Article by Josh Brethauer / Photography by Colin Lowry / Owl Staff
Josh Brethauer will be graduating this spring with a degree in journalism.
I found myself towards the end of my senior year of high school without plans to go to college, or a career or trade in mind. I decided to take a gap year and see if anything comes to mind, but would I ever go back?
This is the position I found myself coming out of high school. Would I ever really go back to school? How would that even work financially, socially, and even mentally?
Graduating in the spring of 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic from high school was difficult. I was home all day, everyday, for almost a year leaving me without important interpersonal skills. With not only the state of the world, but my feelings about school, I decided to take a gap year. It did not end up as one year, but four years.
“Would I ever really go back to school? How would that even work financially, socially, and even mentally?”
I found a part-time job at a golf course right out of high school and worked there up until I started college. I was very fortunate to have supportive parents, but they wanted to see me progressing towards a full-time career. My bosses pointed me towards acquiring my PGA membership because of my love for golf.
Fortunately, I was introduced to that career option, and I am very thankful to those who supported me on that path. The unfortunate part of it was that I did not enjoy it at all, and it took me four years to figure that part out. When I finally decided to go back to school, I was met with a surprising amount of support from friends and family.
I was on the fence about going back to school up until the last possible moment. I signed up for classes on the last day of the add/drop period, meaning I already missed a week of classes. I only took two classes in my first semester as just a trial to see if I could really do it.
Taking a gap year has helped Josh not to take life too seriously.
The trial semester was a success after I finished both classes with an A. It was surprising how easy it was to get into the swing of the classes and doing homework. I had even started a new job in the middle of the semester and was able to keep up with the work.
Just being able to take a light workload of classes and still work was amazing. I could not suggest going to community college more for that fact alone. I was even able to figure out my major just after taking the two classes.
Meghan Kalck (Film/Media Production) is one of my classmates who graduated from high school in 2023 and also took a gap year.
She said “I did not want to come back to college, but my dad pushed me to going back, just to get the degree.”
Meghan is happy with her decision to go back to school, she says “Yes, 100%. It’s a step in the right direction.”
Taking multiple gap years ended up working for me, and I know people at HCC who are even older than me who have come back to school. The skills I learned from working translated to school, and have helped me be a better student than I ever was in high school. Going back is always an option; you just have to work towards it the same as anything else.