What is a Gap Year?

What is a gap year you ask? By the book, it is period of time taken by a student as a break between secondary school and higher education. It can also be seen as a period of time before one begins a masters or Phd program, before entering the work force after college or even between years of working as an adult!

A gap year is a common occurrence in Europe and often something that is generally encouraged, as it is quite simple to get accepted and defer your admission. As a junior in high school myself, I had never heard of it until I stumbled across it on an internet search. I was astounded. My whole life the only thing I ever had thought about was going to college immediately after high school. It’s just what you did. It’s what I was always told you were suppose to do. I mean sure, I knew there were alternatives such as going to trade school or simply entering the work force, but outside the realm of working or going to school, I hadn’t realized there were alternative paths. You go to high school, then to college or you bypass that and go to a career, finding a significant other among it all and eventually raising kids. It’s just what you do.

Taking a gap year is about the transition from living under confined rules with specific parameters regarding the subjective reality of the world to actually experiencing life first hand and recognizing yourself as a part of the world. There is wide variety of things that can be done during a gap year. You can work at any old place and simply save money, or you can pursue an array of entry level jobs or volunteer positions to explore interest in various fields. AmeriCorp has tons of programs that you can do that not only provide housing but living stipends and educational awards for time served. You could work on a trail crew, spend time working with communities to fight poverty, or work as part of a disaster response team. There is a website called WorkAway that allows you to find places to volunteer all around the world, from working in a hostel, to an orphanage, to a farm and everything in between. Many even provide food and housing, and the website only has a small fee ($44) for you to have an active profile, avoiding the need of thousands of dollars if one wants to volunteer abroad. You could work some seasonal jobs that seem fun, read some books that seem interesting, get good at something you never made time for before. You could travel, you could try something new, you could bike across the country, you could do a thru-hike, you could learn a language! Now some of those things may require more money and planning than others, but none are out of the realm of possibility for anyone. The only thing that must be done is to figure out what your path is and to pursue it with intensity and determination. Only you can know what path to go down. Whatever your desire, dream or goal, you can accomplish it. If we just learn to listen to our hearts and not the voice in our heads that says we need to do something because everyone is doing it or because that’s the way it has always been done.

Many people are aware that college is not right for them. They are uninterested in pursuing a higher education, or they do not want to take on that much debt doing so, or they simply cannot afford to. The cost-to-benefit analysis doesn’t provide convincing data. So they begin to work, evading the cost of education and making a living from a young age. Yet, I think there is a larger portion that, not knowing really what they want to do, follow the default of going to college, and right away. There is a saying I have been hearing over the years that “the bachelors is the new masters”, which as sad as it is, is true. To set yourself out from the crowd, it is often necessary to pursue even higher education, creating more student debt in the process. Countless college graduates are entering the work force only to not really find what they are looking for or nothing at all. Many of my friends, people I know and probably my future self, graduate college with a bachelors and continue to work their part time jobs or have to get a second job to support themselves with their entry level position. Not only do they have to pay to support their living expenses but they have to pay back student loans, which in some cases can be quite the additional burden.

I don’t want it to be misconstrued, I believe that education is one of the most valuable asset we have in the world. College is not only about acquiring knowledge in certain trades, it is about learning how to think, how to ask questions, and how to seek the truth and come to our own conclusions. There are an unfathomable amount of lessons to be learned in life, but to learn them, we must learn to see things for what they are. We must learn how to not be led astray by our egoic patterns, cognitive dysfunctions, and distorted views of reality. We must learn to overcome this tribalistic view of it’s us vs them. We must learn how to break down barriers, we must learn to understand opposing arguments from the other side and to learn to partake in civil discourse about difficult topics. There is so much to be gained by education for the sake of education, there just happens to be some downsides to the (literal) price of it. At the same time we must be aware that learning and education is not confined to any university or the walls of a classroom. I could probably solicit many rebuttals to my claim that you learn the aforementioned stuff in university. Many people float through college and through life without getting all that they can get out of it. Maybe you don’t need to go to university to learn these lessons. For me, it was the next step that I needed in my quest for knowledge, but that’s for every individual to decide.

There are many misconceptions around the idea of a gap year, which may be why so many people don’t know about it or that if they do, they don’t think it is a feasible route for them. Some say that one needs to be rich to take a gap year or come from a wealthy family. If you want to travel around Europe or fly to Africa then yeah, you will need to have a good chunk of coin set aside. A big focus can actually be saving money instead of spending it, if that’s your path. You could live at home, work and put away that money towards your education and goals. Another misconception is that if you don’t go to college right away after high school, you will lose any and all scholarship funding from high school. This one is partially true, but not completely. Due to our societal default, it is much more difficult in America and the loop holes are smaller and fewer, but a way exists. You can reach out to the admissions committee at any university and ask about their policies for deferring admission. I combed the internet looking for clauses in the admission policies of the 3 universities I applied to. I eventually discovered that out of the three schools I applied to, only one allowed me to defer my admission for a year, while keeping my merit scholarships.

Some people claim that if a student takes a year off before going to university, they might not go. If you need to go to college to do what you need to do, then you will, but if it’s not written in your stars, then it’s good to have had that realization sooner rather than later. Isn’t that better than going to university, racking up student debt, only to quit half way in or pursue a completely different path after graduation? Another thing people say is to just do whatever you want to do after you graduate college. If you think about it, thats quite counterproductive, basically saying – why do today what can be done tomorrow? It brings us back to this constant pushing off of dreams and fulfillment to some unknown future date that may or may not come. Sure one could do a lot after they graduate, but what if they then jump right into a career, 16 years of education later, only to never find out what life is like outside of that school/work confinement. It will be significantly more difficult after one graduates, with more expectations, commitments and debts to carry.

Now there are some pros and cons to taking a gap year, as there is to most things we think about or do in life. Some cons that you may face is the weight of straying from the status quo of society. There is some element of disapproval from the larger group when you do not do what the majority does or says is best. Whenever someone goes against the grain, theres bound to be a little friction. Another potential con could be the fear of missing out perspective or “FOMO” as the kids call it. If you take a year off, most of your friends will still probably go right to school, they will meet new people and take on new experiences that going to college bring. Depending on what you are doing during your gap year, this could lead to a sense of missing out or loss. You just have to keep in mind the larger picture and know you are doing something different and that experience will still be there waiting for you if you choose to pursue it. Another downside is due to the way our educational system is set up, you would undoubtably lose out on some scholarship opportunities. While I maintained my merit scholarships, I lost out on opportunities to compete for full rides or additional scholarships because the stipulation on many was they are only for high school graduates and they have to be applied immediately the following year. So I wouldn’t be able to use it if I won and I wouldn’t be able to compete in it in the next year.

We are in school our whole lives until we are 18 years old, for most of us, school is our entire reality. Taking a break from school offers a chance to look at life from a different perspective with different priorities. It can be a moment for you to reassess your current path, your values, interests and passions. You can dedicate time to something specific that you want to learn to do, or begin a general pursuit of knowledge. You get to craft experiences that you want to have and meet people who otherwise you probably wouldn’t have met. Yes, college is full of new experiences and new people, but think of the world that exists outside of our bubbles! Additionally, taking a gap year is amazing material for future essays. It is real life experience that jobs, admission boards, and scholarship committees love hearing about. It can easily be something that sets you apart from the crowd.

Now given, the premise of a gap year is that up until now, all of your basic needs have been met, therefore giving you the ability to dream of something different. I am very aware that is not always the case. For some going to college right away, or getting a good paying job means security for providing for yourself and loved ones. I am forever grateful to the hard work both my parents put in providing for our family growing up and the love they gave us. Regardless of where we are at though, I believe there are many ways to go forward. This is all being said to simply provide perspective. Take it for what you will, add it to your scope of awareness, pass along the availability of options. I for one would have loved to known as early as possible, but all things come when they do.

Click here to read more about my gap year and decision to thru hike the Appalachian Trail.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Lynne