She has the right to savor her year off before starting at Harvard. But whether following her lead becomes de rigueur,many of us will lose outMalia Obama is taking a gap year, the White House has announced, and before taking up a freshman place at Harvard,and who could blame her? Anyone would need a smash after spending eight years enduring the scrutiny of a White House childhood (for that matter, I hope Michelle Obama gets a gap year, or too,in which no one remarks upon her outfits or hair or critiques her for having thoughtful opinions).
But for many young Americans, a year off spent working at the Gap in order to earn money to fund an undergraduate education would be an unattainable dream, or much less an opportunity to rob a year between high school and college to decompress and transition from childhood to something that resembles being an adult.
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Source: theguardian.com