More Students Taking a Break From College to Clarify Their Goals

Education was the last thing on Karen Hofman’s mind when she trudged off to McGill University in 1984. Her first year at the Montreal college was a disaster.

“I wasn’t doing my work. I wasn’t interested,” she said.

Instead of returning for the next semester, she spent a year studying cooking in France, learning French, working in Switzerland and traveling.

With her spirit renewed and her focus sharpened, she re-entered McGill the next fall, her grades improved and she settled on a major, anthropology.

“I was a lot more secure,” said Hofman, 21, of Mendham. “I had a better idea of what I wanted.”

She represents a growing number of students and others looking for a way to clarify their educational or career goals by taking a new path for a year or so--and at least a dozen organizations around the nation offer them help. Some college officials say such breaks help many students.

Hofman’s year off was arranged by the Center for Interim Programs, a Princeton-based company that charges $700 to match students’ interests with some 3,000 different offerings.

For those with an interest in art, the company has offered a museum internship on the island of Belau in Micronesia or a chance to study drawing, sculpture, printmaking and art history in Florence, Italy. There are programs in wildlife management in Kenya and Mayan archeology in Belize.

Those in other center programs help the handicapped, perform community services or work on archeology projects in 35 countries, including India and the Soviet Union.

They may build a home from scratch in Minnesota, write for a magazine in Washington, D.C., or work for a health care service in rural Kentucky.

One student spent his time off sailing on a research vessel in the Caribbean. Another worked as a tennis pro in San Antonio, Tex.

The company has an alumni list of about 2,500.

Cornelius H. Bull, 62, founded the Center for Interim Programs eight years ago. “I was distressed by kids marching off to school and not knowing what . . . they are doing there,” said Bull, a Princeton University graduate and former headmaster.

The time off, he said, gives students time to reflect on their goals to better plan their remaining years in school.

“We all need to take a few interims in our lives, to get centered, to expand our horizons, to grow and mature,” he said.

Among similar programs around the country is International Christian Youth Exchange in New York, which has been in operation since 1949 and offers 35 programs in 28 countries.

“Students want something experientially to do to clarify their career direction,” said Edwin Gragert, its executive director. “We’ve been just overwhelmed by people who want to take time off.”

He added: “High school graduates are looking for things to put on a college application that sets them apart.”

What do colleges think?

“There’s a general feeling that it’s a terrific thing to do,” said Margit Dahl, director of undergraduate admissions at Yale University. “I wish more kids did it.”

She said Yale offers its freshmen the option of taking time off before beginning their studies.

LaVon Gallagher of Tucson, Ariz., whose 17-year-old son, Ben, is about to embark on a pre-college break, was initially worried about his plans. But after 12 years of regimented education this will give her son a respite, she said, adding, “Travel is one of the best forms of education.”

For Ben Gallagher, Bull and his daughter, company Vice President Holly Bull, arranged a 9-month, three-part program: studying French in France, living with a family in Nepal while doing social work there and learning to make guitars in Britain.

The Center for Interim Studies said tuition for Gallagher’s three programs runs $6,336. Air fare from Tucson to France to Nepal to England to Tucson is more than $4,000.

Some programs offer room and board, as well as a stipend. Other programs require students to pick up the full tab, including travel costs.