<p>My son enjoys the college lifestyle but feels anxious to travel. He has been tested as gifted. He attended Pine View in Osprey but didn’t graduate from there. He has talked about how he messed up. I see a lot of what he has done as normal adolescent behavior. He doesn’t want his parents paying for his education even though we specifically funded it. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting a College education abroad? I don’t feel comfortable with his idea of joining the Marines. He has studied Spanish for 4 years. He was thinking of a career of translator and intelligence. His major at college is business. I was thinking maybe international business or he needs a break until he finds what he really is passionate about. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>You should encourage him to visit the study abroad office at his college, and the career center there. Both will be able to give him ideas about options for international travel, study, and work.</p>
<p>If he wants to improve his language skills, and doesn’t particularly mind studying, he could contact the Education Officer at the closest consulates of several countries where that language is spoken, and ask about enrolling as a visiting student at universities in those countries. Sometimes it is possible to arrange this.</p>
<p>I can understand your concern about his talk about the Marines. That is indeed a scary prospect for a parent. But it can be a good life experience for a young person. If he mentions it again, do encourage him to think through all of the possibilities of what can happen if he does decide to enlist. Each year there are dozens (if not hundreds) of young people who are sent home permanently from boot-camp because of a previously undiagnosed medical issue or because of an injury. He needs to have a back-up plan for that.</p>
<p>Thank you for taking the time to reply to my thread. I talked to him about visiting Spain on vacation, studying abroad, looking into doing missionary work with a young, dynamic couple in Barcelona. He didn’t even have an interest in a vacation. I don’t know what has changed. He seemed happy at college. Now he is restless, anxious to make his own way.</p>