My parents urged me to go to seminary, even when I decided I didn’t want to go. Not because it was socially acceptable- if I’d had good reasons for not wanting to go then they would have been completely supportive- but because they wanted me to experience EY and have an amazing year. Baruch Hashem I listened to them, gaining in learning, maturity and experiences that are inseparable parts of me.
In a way, it’s even more important for more yeshivish girls than me. I know from my cousins that this is the last and only year for THEM- where the focus is on their self-growth, their enjoyment, their experience. The next year is a whirlwind of jobs, college, dating, marriage- in which the focus is on others. Is the year necessary? No, I’d say not. Is it an amazing thing? Yes.