This is a thread to discuss what if your child isn't going to college? This is not a gap year. College is not on the horizon at this point. Once I let go of college for this particular child, our family has never felt so relaxed. This is a really great, positive move for us.
However: This how my conversations go with my friends. Everyone in my peer group, their kids are applying to colleges and getting in, many to highly selective schools including Ivies. They've been working toward this goal literally since birth. NOT going to college is unthinkable.
Me: My lovely child isn't going to college
(stunned silence)
Them (nodding, knowingly): Ooooh, you mean a gap year.
Me: No I mean a lot longer than that. A lot longer. Like a lot. A lot a lot.
Them: (thick stunned silence)
(Another beat of silence the texture of a Knox gelatin square)
Them: Well . . . .college isn't for everyone. (gears visibly crank in their heads about how my family is probably a little odd anyway . . . so . ,. .)
What about the response: Wow! How exciting! What does (child) plan to do?
Or: Cool! What made (child) all decide this?
Because the truth is--it is very exciting. We realized that the child has a chance to explore the world and work and figure out what (child) is interested in before having to pay back school loans. College is always out there waiting for you. What a revelation!
↧