Students Consider A Pandemic Gap Year

High school seniors missed out on a lot this spring. Graduations are virtual for now, prom was cancelled, and in-person end-of-year celebrations will have to be put on hold or happen at a distance. There’s the additional worry and uncertainty many are facing about their fall semester at college. 

For students who are low-income, or have underlying health issues, the decision to take a gap year or postpone college is even more fraught. We speak with Jeff Mavros, admissions director at Illinois State University about whether the pandemic has changed the way they recruit students. We also hear from Heidi Truax, the 2020 Illinois School Counselor Association Counselor of the Year about what she's hearing from the young women she advises at Simpson Academy for Young Women, and Dennis Austin, a student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who is considering a gap semester because of the pandemic.  

Guests: Jeff Mavros, Director of Admissions at Illinois State University

Heidi Truax, Clinical Assistant Professor of School Counseling at Roosevelt University and counselor at Simpson Academy for Young Women

Dennis Austin, student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign