I love your message here, though it's amusing that you recommend buying something as the cure to buying too much.

Another interesting data point to support taking some time off is the increased security of students who have taken "gap years" before starting college. In my experience they're almost all much happier, more thoughtful people pursuing what they'd really like to do in life rather than your average college student who's there because his parents told him to be (like me and most of my peers in college).