admissions

Why I'm Not In College

by Christopher Frederick

Going directly to college? I've got a better idea.

Take a gap year.

I'm taking a gap year as you read this sentence. So what do I do? I rent a room in Ithaca, New York. I take Brazilian guitar lessons twice a week. I play samba music at Cornell University every Thursday. I volunteer for Prisoner Express, a journal of writing by prison inmates. I cook my own food. I'm traveling to South America for four months to learn Spanish.

And I pay for everything myself.