If you're like most parents, you want to present your soon-to-be high school grad with a gift they will remember for years to come. An extravagant gift, like a car or some cash, may be appreciated upfront, but the experience of such gifts can fade pretty quickly once life as an adult starts normalizing. Instead of choosing a traditional or trendy gift, surprise your new high school graduate with a gift that inspires and encourages them as they learn to stand on their own two feet as an adult – consider one or more of these ideas:

Aviation Classes

You can give your new grad an opportunity to learn new skills they won't have access to in a traditional college setting by enrolling them in aviation classes. Not only is the experience sure to be an exhilarating one that helps to increase self-esteem levels, but aviation classes can open up a variety of career opportunities for them in the commercial airline field, the private jet-setting industry, different military divisions, and more.

Aviation classes can also provide your new grad with a myriad of travel opportunities they wouldn't have otherwise. Many aviation schools offer graduate certificates to those who complete their entire program, which will help to make your new grad more competitive in the market if they decide to chase an aviation career. Learning to fly may inspire your new grad to take you on a few trips when they have access to a plane too! For more information, contact a school like Parkland College. 

A Volunteer Vacation

Paying for a volunteer trip abroad is sure to offer life changing experiences for your teen that exposes them to different languages, cultures, and ways of life and in turn impact the way they live and appreciate their life when they get back home to settle into adulthood. By being immersed into new cultures and languages, your child will learn new coping and communication skills that can be used within their own careers and personal relationships at home.

Respectfulness, new manners, and an expanded food palette are also things your soon-to-be adult teen can expect while volunteering. Of course, your teen will also experience the satisfaction of helping others and feel good about making a positive impact on the world overall. Your new grad may even be able to make some extra money by teaching English in their spare time while on a volunteer vacation abroad. In fact, long term career opportunities abroad might become a reality for your teen by the time they head back home from their volunteer experience.

A Cool Coin Collection

Gifting your new grad with a coin collection is an awesome way to say congratulations and give them an opportunity to learn more about precious metals and making investments throughout the world. Coin collections also offer the opportunity to gain insight into world history and politics, which can play a role in future financial decisions they make as they age. Because coin collections typically appreciate in value as time goes on, the collection you gift them can be used to finance large lifestyle expenses when they can be sold for a profit later down the line. You can find interesting options online and at your local bank including:

• Wheat Pennies
• Morgan Dollars
• Vintage Minted Coins
• Silver Proof Sets

This is the kind of gift that will keep on giving for many years to come by teaching your new grad important investment and saving skills while providing them with a source of assets that can be used as they grow their wealth as time goes on.

Any one of these gift ideas are sure to be a hit offered on their own, but you can make a serious life impact on your new grad by combining two or more to gift them.