The end of June is an exciting time for many young graduates. It’s a time when the established routines of grade school come to an end and the next stage of life begins.
Grade 12s at schools throughout the Comox Valley have their eyes on a number of different targets.
For some, the planning has already begun for the next instalment in their educational life, which for many will start this fall. Others are charting out a “gap” year, one that will see them join the workforce if they haven’t already done so, or start analyzing the map to see where they’d like to travel before tackling more studies, or embarking upon a career.
There are those, too, who haven’t yet got a plan in place for this transitional time. Many parents worry about the direction these children will take now that school is winding up and they are essentially becoming young adults. Will they take the initiative and start looking for work, or simply hang out waiting for something to be handed to them?
No parent wants to see their kids stagnate, especially at a time in life when they should be filled with energy and fresh ideas.
Parents of today’s grads grew up in an environment where getting ahead, sooner rather than later, was the mantra and that hasn’t really changed much. As such, living with teenagers who don’t operate under that philosophy can be stressful for some parents.
But taking a year or even two off school – not necessarily work – after graduation to figure out where their passions lay and what gets them excited in life can be a good investment in one’s future happiness.
Gone are the days when going to university simply because it’s “what you do” after finishing high school is an acceptable route. It’s become far too expensive for most families to afford to send children to post-secondary, for the sole purpose of continuing an education, with the hope that they will discover their calling sometime in the future.
One of parents’ biggest hopes is that their children will grow up to have confidence in themselves and their ability to make good decisions. For those who are graduating this month, the time for making some of the more key decisions in their lives is drawing closer.
Let’s just remember that those decisions don’t all have to be made at once.
-Black Press
