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at the risk of suggesting an unpopular option, I'd suggest taking a year off. See if there is an AmeriCorps program that interests him, somewhere in the country. Regrettably, the most recent admin. has chopped funding for this program, but some of the programs out there are amazing. (some also are awful...) Try to have a plan for returning to school (hopefully where the major is not set in stone) AFTER the program so that a year off doesn't turn into ten... (ahem, like it did for me!)
I was a team leader and then on staff of a program in Georgia that no longer exists. We had high school grads and masters degreed engineers serving side by side on the same teams, learning about themselves as they made amazing contributions to the environmental needs of metro Atlanta. Not everyone graduated, but those who bought in to the program developed leadership and learned a TON about themselves in the process. One big benefit is an education award that can be put to use for future schooling (accredited schools only, of course)
It beats the crap out of military service (unless it's the coast guard) due to current policy making... but still instills an ethic of civic duty that I think is sorely lacking in our youth (largely).
NCCC is the most military-like option in AmeriCorps, if the service is your thing, but you want to see your child again.
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