[Magdalen] Everett @ the DMV

[ME Michaud]

I took a gap year, albeit inadvertently. That is, I had enough credits to
graduate from high school, so I just sorta left. I'd been accepted at
college based on my graduating with my class. Returned the following June
(or was it May?) to march in cap&gown.

That year I worked as a waitress at Howard Johnson's. Broke off a
relationship that was grinding most dreadfully toward marriage. Came out.
Moved in with a woman in a neighboring town.

Believe me, if I'd ever wondered if college was right for me, Howard
Johnson's disabused me of any such speculation. Looking around at my
hard-working coworkers, who worked their asses off yet had such poor
prospects, gave me the focus I needed to move into the next phase of my
life.

I never discussed any of this with my parents. Just did it. How bewildered
they must have been.
-M


On Tuesday, May 10, 2016, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

> I know I would have benefited greatly from a gap year, even just to decide
> whether college was for me at that time or not, but my parents would not
> hear of it.
>