疫情還未過去，上大學還是休一年，這是個問題。選擇上大學的人要面臨以線上課程為主的教學安排，而選擇休間隔年的人則無法按計劃出國旅行或參加實習活動。哪個才是正確的選擇？

Devon Tyrie had a plan for the 2020-2021 academic year. The Massachusetts native wanted to take a gap year between graduating from high school and starting university, combining volunteer work, international travel and internships. But with the world still in the grip of Covid-19, it’s clear her year will not pan out as envisaged.

來自美國馬薩諸塞州的德文·泰瑞原本對2020-2021學年的計劃是在高中畢業(yè)后休整一年再開始上大學。她打算在這個間隔年做志愿者、出國旅行和實習。但由于世界依然籠罩在疫情的陰影下，顯然她的間隔年不會像設(shè)想的一樣順利。

Tyrie, 18, says she’s had to make a decision based on worst-case scenarios. She’s been accepted by Middlebury College in Vermont, which like many US institutions, has not yet released plans for the upcoming semester. But some higher education institutions in both the US and the UK have already said they will shift to a predominantly online learning environment for part or all of the next academic year. Tyrie says she’s had to weigh up the risks; if she goes straight to college her first year may be far from the traditional experience, yet if she takes a gap year, her activities will likely be limited. In the end, she’s applied for a deferral to the next academic year. “It’s kind of tough right now, not knowing, but I’m doing my best to make a plan,” says Tyrie.

18歲的泰瑞表示，她必須基于最壞的情況來做決定。她已經(jīng)被佛蒙特州的明德學院錄取。和許多美國高校一樣，明德學院還未發(fā)布新學期的計劃。但是美國和英國的一些高等教育機構(gòu)都已經(jīng)表示，下一個學年的部分或全部時間會轉(zhuǎn)換成以線上教學為主的模式。泰瑞說，她必須權(quán)衡風險；如果她直接去上大學，她的第一年也許會和傳統(tǒng)的大學經(jīng)歷大不相同，然而如果她休整一年，她的活動將很可能受到限制。最終，她申請了延期入學。泰瑞說：“現(xiàn)在挺難辦的，因為一切都不確定，但我會盡力做好計劃?！?/p>

Her reluctance to start her university education virtually is by no means unique. For students, it’s not an attractive prospect, especially given most universities continue to charge full tuition fees. Madelyn Mackintosh, 17, was looking forward to studying physiology and political science at McGill University in Canada. “Five months ago, a gap year was definitely not in the cards,” she says. But McGill is in Montreal, Canada’s Covid-19 hotspot, leaving Mackintosh anxious. Then she found out that McGill was making most of its classes online. “That morning, I wrote to the deferral department and I requested a deferral.”

實際上，她對于是否開始上大學的猶豫不決不是個例。對于學生來說，這時候上大學不是很令人向往，尤其是在多數(shù)大學繼續(xù)收取全額學費的情況下。17歲的麥德琳·麥金托什本來很期待在加拿大的麥吉爾大學學習生理學和政治學。她說：“五個月前，我想都沒想過休間隔年?！钡躯溂獱柎髮W位于加拿大的新冠疫情重災(zāi)區(qū)蒙特利爾，這讓麥金托什感到焦慮。接著她又發(fā)現(xiàn)，麥吉爾大學的大部分課程都要在線上進行?！澳翘煸缟?，我寫信給入學部，申請延期入學?！?/p>

Taking a gap year between high school and university is fairly common in many parts of Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. In the US, the practice is less common, but attracted mainstream attention in 2016 when Barack Obama’s daughter Malia took a gap year before attending Harvard University. Critics point out that the gap year is often an opportunity reserved for the wealthy. Yet the concept – and its pros and cons – is under increased scrutiny now as students all over the world weigh up their options for the year ahead.

在高中和大學之間休一個間隔年在歐洲多地、英國、澳大利亞和新西蘭都相當普遍。在美國，這種做法沒那么常見，但是在2016年吸引了主流媒體的關(guān)注，當時奧巴馬的女兒瑪利亞在入讀哈佛大學前休了一個間隔年。批評人士指出，間隔年通常是富人才能享有的機會。不過現(xiàn)在間隔年的概念——及其利弊——隨著世界各地的學生都在權(quán)衡新學年的選擇，正受到越來越多的審視。

In a recent study on Covid-19 and university access, the London-based Sutton Trust found that one in five university applicants (19%) in the UK had changed their mind about university attendance for the 2020 academic year – whether in terms of their preferred university or by deferring a place in favour of a gap year.

總部在倫敦的薩頓信托在最近的一項針對新冠肺炎和大學入學的研究中發(fā)現(xiàn)，英國有五分之一（19%）報考大學的學生已經(jīng)改變了主意——或者是心儀的大學改變了，或者是選擇延期入學，先休整一年。

In the US, a survey conducted in April by Baltimore-based consulting firm Art & Science Group found that 17% of students had changed their college plans due to Covid-19. Of those students, 16% indicated that they would take a gap year, while 17% said they would wait until the spring semester (which would start in January 2021) to enrol in university full-time. A third said they would enrol in university on a part-time basis.

在美國，總部在巴爾的摩的咨詢公司藝術(shù)和科學集團四月份開展的一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，疫情導(dǎo)致17%的學生改變了上大學的計劃。在這些學生當中，16%的人表示他們會休一個間隔年，17%的人表示他們會等到春季學期開學時（2021年1月）再入學進行全日制學習。三分之一的學生表示他們會采取非全日制的形式入學。

It’s far from being an easy decision. Gabriel Hostin, 17, had decided before Covid-19 that he would take a gap year before attending Harvard. Now, he says, there are uncertainties surrounding his plans to travel internationally – something he hopes will change at the start of 2021. In terms of the immediate future, he’s looking at domestic volunteer programmes including community work closer to the New York area, where he’s from. For his peers who are going straight to university, he says there’s concern about not being able to be on the campus when the academic year starts. “For me, that’s not college,” says Hostin.

這絕不是一個輕松的決定。17歲的加布里埃爾·霍斯汀在疫情暴發(fā)前就決定要在入讀哈佛大學前休一個間隔年?，F(xiàn)在，他表示自己出國旅游的計劃有太多不確定性——他希望這一情況能在2021年初發(fā)生改變。眼下他計劃在國內(nèi)參加一些志愿項目，比如，在他所在的紐約附近參加社區(qū)工作。對于他那些打算直接上大學的同伴，他表示新學年開始時恐怕無法進校園?；羲雇≌f：“對我來說，這不是大學生活?！?/p>

It’s a sentiment that Joshua Kim and Edward Maloney, authors of Learning Innovation and The Future Of Higher Education, understand. But Kim, the director of online programs and strategy at Dartmouth College, says, “I think you really have to distinguish between true gap year experiences and simply stopping for a year or waiting for a year.”

《學習創(chuàng)新和高等教育的未來》一書的作者約書亞·金和愛德華·馬龍尼能理解這種感受。但是在達特茅斯學院擔任在線課程和策略部主任的金表示：“我認為你真的必須將真正的間隔年經(jīng)歷和停一年或等一年區(qū)分開來?！?/p>

Kim, whose daughter took a gap year in South Korea through a US-government funded initiative, says that for a gap year to be valuable, it needs to be educational and ideally have a structured component. That’s extremely difficult to do right now, says Maloney, with social distancing rules and travel restrictions likely to be in place for the foreseeable future. Having an unplanned and unstructured gap year that essentially equates to a “l(fā)eave of absence” can be detrimental to students, say Kim and Maloney, because they’re more likely to lose their momentum and decide not to attend college altogether.

金的女兒通過參加美國政府資助的一個項目在韓國度過了間隔年。金指出，要度過一個有價值的間隔年，必須有教育意義，理想的情況下應(yīng)該有組織有條理。馬龍尼說，現(xiàn)在要做到這點極為困難，因為在可預(yù)見的未來應(yīng)該還會有社交隔離規(guī)定和旅行限制令。金和馬龍尼說，沒有計劃、沒有組織的間隔年本質(zhì)上等同于休假一年，這對學生是有害的，因為他們很可能會失去動力，最后干脆決定不上大學。

"The good news is there is no wrong decision. The bad news is there is no right decision either,” says Michelle Dittmer, president and co-founder of the Canadian Gap Year Association.

加拿大間隔年協(xié)會的主席和共同創(chuàng)立者米歇爾·迪特默說：“好消息是沒有錯誤的決定。壞消息是也沒有正確的決定?！?/p>

For those who struggle to find meaningful activities, Dittmer suggests thinking about using the skills you have to help organisations that might benefit.

對于那些正在努力尋找有意義的活動的學生，迪特默建議他們考慮運用自己擁有的技能去幫助那些有需要的機構(gòu)。

英文來源：BBC

翻譯&編輯：丹妮