I need honest opinions! (Taking a year off from school)

[redlight]

Do it! I took some time off before going to grad school.

 

[mhsjax]

I don't know if I would do it, it has nothing to do with taking a year off, but everything to do with life on a cruise ship> I would check it out first. I don't know if the entertainers are treated differently, but the accomodations are really pretty bad, IMHO. I just couldn't live like that for any length of time.

Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but I just didn't know if you had researched life on a cruise ship for employees.

 

[DawnCt1]

I don't know if I would do it, it has nothing to do with taking a year off, but everything to do with life on a cruise ship> I would check it out first. I don't know if the entertainers are treated differently, but the accomodations are really pretty bad, IMHO. I just couldn't live like that for any length of time.

Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but I just didn't know if you had researched life on a cruise ship for employees.

The "crew" live differently from the "staff", who live differently from the "entertainment", who live differently from the officers. It definitely is a cast system, but if your peers are living in the same type of accommodations you are, I would think you would adjust. An interesting book, (although poorly written) is "If I were Not upon the sea". http://www.amazon.com/Were-Upon-Under-Captains-Table/dp/0971422907/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top Its about a young woman who went to sea as a crew or staff member, became a cruise director assistant and ended up marrying the captain. She talks about her experiences from the beginning to the end. She went to sea at a young age and describes what life was like. The book was written a few years ago, but ship culture is ship culture and from the staff and crew I have talked to, it varies ship to ship. I liked the book. It was a fun read while sitting on by the pool on the Celebrity's Millienium. (sp)

 

[dakcp2001]

When you get a once in a lifetime chance to live life to the fullest TAKE IT!!! Go dance and enjoy yourself, you are young and have your whole life to finish school You do not want to spend your whole life looking back at what you could have done.
Follow your heart!!!!
Here are some wise words from Robert Frost!

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

 

[mhsjax]

The "crew" live differently from the "staff", who live differently from the "entertainment", who live differently from the officers. It definitely is a cast system, but if your peers are living in the same type of accommodations you are, I would think you would adjust. An interesting book, (although poorly written) is "If I were Not upon the sea". http://www.amazon.com/Were-Upon-Under-Captains-Table/dp/0971422907/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top Its about a young woman who went to sea as a crew or staff member, became a cruise director assistant and ended up marrying the captain. She talks about her experiences from the beginning to the end. She went to sea at a young age and describes what life was like. The book was written a few years ago, but ship culture is ship culture and from the staff and crew I have talked to, it varies ship to ship. I liked the book. It was a fun read while sitting on by the pool on the Celebrity's Millienium. (sp)

I am sure it is different for the entertainers, I just want the OP to be aware that it is still very cramped quarters, like one article said, you have to become one with the ship. Anytime you step out of your cabin, you are on. It is a long commitment. I think most people don't have any idea what life on a cruise ship is like, I think it is best to really be sure and do your homework before signing a contract with any cruise line.

I LOVE cruising, but there isn't enough money out there to pay me to work on one. However, I am sure that there are people that love it.

 

[Plannin'Shannon]

Oh, thank you so much everyone. I appreciate each and every one of your posts. And it seems to be pretty unanimous!

My parents are quite against the idea- they are both very academic and think it would be a water of time. Deep down though... I know I really want to do it. Additionally, I would hopefully be able to make some decent money and better afford school when I continue.

Thank you so much for the input!! Of course there are still many details to work out (I would need to find someone to take care of my dog, contact my university and notify them, figure out my current living situation) but there is really nothing standing in my way that can't be taken care of.

The bolded sentence says it all.

Good luck with your parents. I hope you can all see eye-to-eye soon.

 

[christiane]

I don't know if the entertainers are treated differently, but the accomodations are really pretty bad, IMHO. I just couldn't live like that for any length of time ... just didn't know if you had researched life on a cruise ship for employees.

If you will be on a ship anything like the one we were on earlier this summer you will have the time of your life!

We were on a cruise through the Mediterranean and the dancers & singers seemed to be having a wonderful time. We attended a backstage tour and they certainly seemed to be the happiest group of staff on the ship. During a Q&A session they all said how grateful they were to be on the ship & what a great opportunity it was. They said their schedule was not very strenuous either. On our 12-night sailing, they did 4 shows. On show days, they had practice and did 2 shows. On non-show days they had to work-out in the gym but otherwise their time was their own & if it was a port-day they spent all day in port. In the evenings, they would also attend passenger parties.

They said that the social events staff & the entertainers were the only crew that were allowed to mingle with the passengers regularly and we certainly saw them in the bars & discos quite often. Usually they shut the place down! They also said their accomodation was better than many of the non-entertainment crew's quarters. They were on higher decks & many had their own cabins.

Add me to the posters who say, "Go for it! I would !

 

[mhsjax]

If you will be on a ship anything like the one we were on earlier this summer you will have the time of your life!

We were on a cruise through the Mediterranean and the dancers & singers seemed to be having a wonderful time. We attended a backstage tour and they certainly seemed to be the happiest group of staff on the ship. During a Q&A session they all said how grateful they were to be on the ship & what a great opportunity it was. They said their schedule was not very strenuous either. On our 12-night sailing, they did 4 shows. On show days, they had practice and did 2 shows. On non-show days they had to work-out in the gym but otherwise their time was their own & if it was a port-day they spent all day in port. In the evenings, they would also attend passenger parties.

They said that the social events staff & the entertainers were the only crew that were allowed to mingle with the passengers regularly and we certainly saw them in the bars & discos quite often. Usually they shut the place down! They also said their accomodation was better than many of the non-entertainment crew's quarters. They were on higher decks & many had their own cabins.

Add me to the posters who say, "Go for it! I would !

Hey, if the op has done her research and the cruise ship life looks good or at least something she can handle, then I say 100% go for it. Soem people do have a distorted image of t=what life on a cruise ship is like, and some don't. I do think it would be a wonderful opportunity for the right person and if my child wanted to do it I would be fine with it. It just wouldn't work for me. I don't share personal space well with anyone except my hubby or kids. I have a big personal bubble. lol

 

[autumnpalm]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone.

It is so nice to have an objective perspective and thoughts from people who have been there. I've gone from the mindset of "I really want to do this but...." to "Okay, I'm going to make this work!"

There will be a few obstacles but I think I'm going to go for it.

I promise to keep everyone updated! And as the contract starts January 2011, who knows... maybe I'll even see some of you aboard!

 

[bumbershoot]

No, my program is not locked into a time frame, thank goodness!

Make sure that your degree's requirements won't change. At my university, reqs changed, slightly, often. When I in my junior year I could have gone by the reqs in the book when I matriculated, or the reqs in the book when I was graduating. I bet that if I had been beyond the 4 years that I wouldn't have had that choice.

It wouldn't be something to stop me from doing what you want to do (I say go for it!), but it's worth knowing ahead of time, that you might have to take a few more classes.

 

[Imzadi]

My parents are quite against the idea- they are both very academic and think it would be a water of time. Deep down though... I know I really want to do it.

"Okay, I'm going to make this work!"

There will be a few obstacles but I think I'm going to go for it.

Just read this passage from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, to your parents:

On Children
~ Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
​

 

[jen0610]

Okay, DIS. It's honest opinion time!

Any thoughts? I just found out and have already made about ten pro and con lists! What would you have done at my age? What would you advise your son/daughter/friend/sister to do? I appreciate any and all opinions!

Life is nothing but a lifetime of coulda, woulda, and shoulda's. No matter the decision you make - to stay in school or go dance for a year - you will always wonder.....the what if I had, when I ....... of that decision. But the memories, both good and bad, the life lessons, both good and bad, the friendships, both good and bad, that will come from either decision, will help shape who you are for the rest of your life.

Listen to your heart. If your heart is telling you to stay in school, grab it by both hands and live it to the fullest. If your heart is telling you to go dance, grab that by both hands and live it to the fullest.

If you were my daughter, I would hope that you would choose what makes YOU happy, not what I or dad or grandparents or siblings or friends want you to do.

And if it was a decision that I was making for myself - I would be dancing my feet off for the next year.

 

[Nennie]

I have a friend who took time off from college to be a singer/dancer on a cruise ship for 2 years. He made a lot of great friends (still in touch with all of them on facebook, etc) and got to see the world.

He finished college, is now a nurse and is also in grad school to become a nurse anethesist (sp?).

Based on his experience, I say GO FOR IT!!! Sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime!!!

 

[abdmom]

When I was just turned 21, I had the opportunity to attend a professional school in a different city. I had planned to attend that type of professional school - just not that particular one. I visited and my mind was made up, I was NOT going to attend. My parents talked me out of it - "But this is what you've planned to do all your life!" - and off I went - I didn't want to disappoint the parents. It was the most miserable 4 years of my life (including the 4 years after my dh died when I was 42).

Listen to YOUR heart. Do what is right for YOU. School will always be there.

 

[Rora]

Do it. Definitely do it. BUT, make sure you tell yourself that you have to go back and finish school.

What a great opportunity!

 

[Planogirl]

Life is too uncertain to let a good opportunity pass you by. I hope that you enjoy it.

 

[Happy Mom2]

Go! Dance! Explore the world!

 

[CowboyCO]

As a former performer - I say do it!

I was offered a singer/dancer poiditon on a cruise line when I was in college as let it pass to finish school.

As a performer, you will never get your prime performing years back.

I'm now 45 , haven't performed in 20 years and just auditioned for a local Theater company. Believe me - dance callbacks are nerve-wracking when you are 20, but terrorizing when you are 45...

Live for the now!

 

[Noah]

For me, as I became an adult and joined the work force, I became less and less interested in studying again. I was very glad that I took the express route to finish the studies and THEN start work full force.

Although I no longer like to go to school, I like to self study and read a lot.

If you feel that you resonate with this, it may be good to finish off that last 2 years.

Noah

 

[mhawk4]

As a career counselor at a college my advice is go for it!

Real life happens too fast, mortgages, full-time jobs, marriage, children, and other responsibilities that you cannot so easily leave behind. Now is the time to try the type of thing that you may never have the chance to do until you retire.

Go for it! Have fun!

I am a mom too and I hope that if my girls ever get a chance to do something like this they decide to go for it.