Destiny Keshner

Professor Joseph Gaudiana

ENG 170

May 12th, 2022

English 170 Final

The article Why Colleges Should Require a Gap Year by Johnathan Zimmerman explains that colleges and universities should require students to take a gap year to complete a year of service for our country to graduate. Zimmerman point’s out that in 2013 representatives presented the idea of a service year and they immediately declined it. Zimmerman’s purpose for this article is to promote to colleges and universities why they should require students to do a service year. He explains the pros and takes into consideration the negatives, but he shows how they can be resolved. Zimmerman’s thesis statement states “Although the federal government is unlikely to require national service, we could. And the benefits would be extraordinary-not just for our students and our country, but for higher education itself” (Zimmerman 3). This thesis statement displays that this article will be about promoting colleges the benefits of students taking a service year and how it would create better citizens.

Zimmerman backs up his thesis statement with claims that show how students, and our country would benefit from a service year. Zimmerman analyzes that if colleges and universities required a service year this would expose students to diversity, and they would be in a surrounding with other students that are not like them. This would make our country to become better people and more knowledgeable about things that occur throughout the nation. Zimmerman understands the worries that colleges have and the worries of families if they can not afford it. Zimmerman proposes for colleges that are concerned about losing applicants and tuition they could offer scholarships or discounts off their tuition. In the article Zimmerman provides how colleges are incorporating service years into their schools, he states “A handful of institutions- including Princeton and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill- already offer aid to students who want to defer their admission for a year” (Zimmerman 4). Zimmerman claims that for students or institutions who can not afford a service year could go through domestic agencies who will provide a gap year for them.

In the article Zimmerman connects to his audience by appealing to both logos and pathos. He appeals to logos by taking in consideration colleges worries about requiring a gap year. He then uses evidence and logical arguments to explain how it would benefit both colleges and students. He also states many ways that colleges could incorporate this into their schools without losing applicants and tuition. He appeals to pathos by making his audience sympathize with his argument that this era is threated by social cohesion and colleges need to take action.

When I first saw the title of the article, I thought no way colleges should make it required, because students just went to get college done quickly. After reading the article I believe that colleges should require a gap year to graduate. Zimmerman provided research and explained the benefits it would have for students and our country. A gap year would benefit our country and universities tremendously by creating a humane country and involving more people with our country. A gap year would impact me by making me more aware of the things going on in our country and would also make me meet people that I wouldn’t usually meet. This article has changed my entire perspectives on gap years and colleges should really begin to implement them into their programs.