Discover the life-changing impact of a gap year through the eyes of a mother whose son lost his spark and joy of learning during high school—a casualty of college prep education and the anxiety-filled quest to attend the “best college.”

In Am I Too Late?, higher education and career coaching veterans Cindy Funk and Jim Bellar make the case why parents should help their student explore alternative learning options like taking a gap year after high school.

Cindy, like many parents, got caught up in the high-pressure stakes of college admissions, wanting her son, Mackenzie, to be accepted by “the best school.” She gives an authentic and vulnerable account of her crusade to help him reconnect with the joy of learning after he announces that he is burned out by his senior year and wants to defer college and take a gap year.

Utilizing flexible planning and design thinking, the family supports Mackenzie’s decision to take a learning journey that includes hiking the Appalachian Trail, teaching in Swaziland, navigating the waters of British Columbia, and researching marine life on a tall ship in the Caribbean. In this evolving, experiential “classroom,” he gains competencies sought by employers and a capacity to manage the unseen, unpredictable and unplanned events.

A useful resource for parents of teens, Am I Too Late? provides insight into the benefits of gap years, college admissions, college costs, college degree myths, and furnishes research references and resources. Valuable exercises are presented to give parents practical strategies in helping their young adult navigate the high school to college transition including asking essential questions like: “Why do you want to go to college?”