Get some working experience first and take some part-time courses, that's my 2 cents. I'm close to finishing my bachelors and took me forever to land a job, 11 months to be exact. I had the education part down on my resume, but didn't have experience in my field of study, which held me back quite a bit, hence disadvantaged, considering a lot of employers look for people with working experience > education. Education will come into play when you start moving up.

This might not necessary apply for everyone, since everyone's situation is different, but just my thoughts.

Yea seeing in the job market today, work experience helps a lot sometimes. Versus someone who has a university degree and just a one page resume that says you have a degree and a graduate student. I'm really hoping you can at least take some courses even if its a college to stay focused on education as well. Also, if you have 1 or 2 courses, at least in the end, you dont have to waste more time on them if you get what I mean. Cuz courses are pretty complicated, you don't want to build them up later for the next semester because then you have maybe 6 courses but you can't take 6. That's why I strongly recommended you to be in school and also working at the same time, even if it means to take 1 course.

dont take a year off, you wont end up going

I technically took a year off after high school as well. I went on to flying school, which, in form and substance, isn't really school at all. I had very mediocre grades in high school, largely because I never appreciated the value of an education. After the year off, I went to College, worked really hard and got the results to show for it. I then realized that this school thing could really work out for me.

College really allowed me to better adjust to university life. I took a host of courses in college and found out what I really wanted to do. Since then, I have enjoyed a distinguished academic career, and I am looking forward to law school.

If you don't know what you want to do now, working in a retail job for a year will do nothing to help you. I would recommend college and just taking random courses to see what you really like. It will give you so much more perspective. I will, however, caution you to refrain from taking courses for the sake of taking courses. Be active in the discovery of your interests and aptitude.

Good luck.

Do what ever you think is right. I took a year off school. Now I DRIVE the school bus!





jk. If I had to do it over again, I would still take that year off. I worked at LD and went snowboarding, amongst other things. After that I went to school for two years and got a FT job with a bank. I just did my taxes and am earning about 3x what I did 5 when I started 5 years ago. With that said, I'm transitioning into a career in accounting. That year made for some of the best times of my life thusfar.

Double posted.

If you must really take a break after highschool then do it. But if you are doing it because you fear that you will not be able to handle school and work at the same time, do not fear the unknown.

There are alot of kids out there that have their parents pay for their tuition (heck, a car even). And not surprisingly, there are also some that pay their own tuition. What tends to happen, is when these students graduate from university, they tend to lead very successful lives. Their ability to manage their time efficiently ( balance job with study) also allows them to set their goals straight, and when they come out to work, 9/10 chance these fellows right off the bat, have some clue as to what they wish to aspire to. Remember in life, there will always be a point where we must start with nothing. Im sure we can all attest to that. When you start from point zero and slowly while steadily work your way up, this strongly built foundation will allow you to determine your destiny through your bare hands. Dont let your parents pay your tuition. Pay your own, and maybe through this difficult but rewarding path you may chose to or not to take, you will discover something new about yourself and allow you to reach your fullest potential. Create, do not be created.

If you live at Home, tuition is pretty easy to afford. Just make sure you enroll in co-op/internship. It's the food and rent that will kill you.

If you do plan to go to University, I would HIGHLY suggest finding a program to take your 1st or even 2nd year semesters at a College such as Langara or whatever. Classes are smaller, tuition is cheaper, and teaching quality is better! THEN, transfer to University.

But to be honest, living a "dream" and finding out what you want to do is pretty difficult in the real world, especially if you don't have much skills or experience to back yourself up. B.C.I.T could be pretty fun because some of the programs offer a wide variety of courses, from hands on, to theoretical, which is also another method to "find what you like".

Hope this helps!