zines need love too! Why We Should Make It Easier for High
School Grads to Take a "Gap Year" Why We Should Make It Easier
for High School Grads to Take a "Gap Year"   by Liz Dwyer June
12, 2011  Should more American students take a year off between
high school and college to gain real-world experience, tangible
skills, and some maturity? That's the thinking behind "gap
years," a purposefully planned year of volunteer work and
internships. Although they're growing in popularity in the
States, they're still not as common here as they are in some
other parts of the developed world. But after 12 years of
studying, maybe encouraging graduates to take a year off and
apply that book learning isn't a bad idea.  As the St. Louis
Dispatch reports, the number of high school grads taking gap
years isn't exactly known since there isn't clear government
data showing whether a student is taking time off or just
choosing not to go to college, period. But, one indicator of the
rise of gap years is the cottage industry that ha