so i've been talking to a lot of my friends about this. The whole 'see the world' vs. 'go to college' thing, and how different it is for Australia and America.
In Australia - a gap year is perfectly normal, travelling to see the world before settling into uni/work/life commitments is absolutely reinforced, and the expectations of getting into a "good school" (any uni you go to is good in Aust. really, yes?), getting a "good job", having a "good partner" and "good kids" and repeating it ad infinitum is not really there at all.
In America - there are really big expectations on most of my friends to go straight to college, then get a good job, etc. and continue the cycle of study-work-family-debt before considering travelling. It's almost as if there is a bit of a feeling among the general populus that "well! i was born in america! where else do i need to go?". Of course i am speaking REALLY stereotypically, and not at all reflecting the whole view. It's just what i have picked up?
"Did you know that for pretty much the entire history of the human species, the average life span was less than thirty years? You could count on ten years or so of real adulthood, right? There was no planning for retirement, There was no planning for a career. There was no planning. No time for plannning. No time for a future. But then the life spans started getting longer, and people started having more and more future. And now life has become the future. Every moment of your life is lived for the future--you go to high school so you can go to college so you can get a good job so you can get a nice house so you can afford to send your kids to college so they can get a good job so they can get a nice house so they can afford to send their kids to college." John Green
the american dream?
australia doesn't need it...
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Good points Elise - I totally support having some time off to do other things but the good school, good uni, good job thing is also relevant for a lot of people here as well as America and was probably the model around when we were your age. Important too to live in the present - plan for the future is OK but as long as people actually enjoy the present and really live in it! Back to the time off to do other things like travel theme - guess what - that is what I am planning to do now that I have been through the uni, job, house, children stages of life!
ReplyDeleteYAY mum. that is fantastic. i am very glad you have planned that. And yes i know there is a lot more to this story which i am looking forward to having a good conversation about this with you. you know, our old philosohpies of life and the way we do things type conversations we often have? :)
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