Life outside a classroom
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After four tough years of high school and a tearful graduation ceremony, we all make our way off to some type of college, trade school, or entry job. Well, almost all of us.
A commonly overlooked option for post-high school life is taking a gap year. According to gapyearassosciation.org, a gap year is defined as “a semester or year of experiential learning, typically taken after high school and prior to career or post-secondary education, in order to deepen one’s practical, professional, and personal awareness.” In other words, a break between chapters of life.
Peter Thometz took a gap year before entering college.
“I hadn’t planned on taking a gap year. I was actually pretty opposed to it until I learned about the different options I had,” Peter said.
“I hadn’t planned on taking a gap year. I was actually pretty opposed to it until I learned about the different options I had.”
The main idea of taking a gap year is to experience life outside of the classroom while you’re still learning and growing. Because this idea is fairly abstract, four types of gap years have been created to help set a guideline. These four are comprised of volunteering/service, career exploration/internship, paid work, and free radicals.
Volunteer and service-based gap years are a way to spend time serving a community. Whether on a local or global scale, devoting time to service work can be an extremely fulfilling option that offers new life experiences and friendships. There are plenty of resources and programs to browse through when planning for the year. In fact, some programs offer shorter trips for those who don’t have the ability to commit a whole year of their time. Companies like International Volunteer HQ offer trips as short as one week. Other highly rated programs include Pacific Discovery, United Planet, and the Peace Corps. Every program focuses on different areas of the world and different types of service for said areas.
“My gap year was two parts,” Peter said. “I signed up with a program called Carpe Diem Education. The first half was group travel through Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Honduras. So, I had two leaders and eleven other students. The second half, I went back to Guatemala on my own to work with a non-profit on building an environmentally sustainable school.”
Another type of break based on life experience is career exploration/internship. This style aims to prepare participants for their future careers and endeavors by exposing them to different types of work before they devote their schedule to study in that area. With a constantly changing job market, hands-on experience is becoming more and more important to securing a stable job. A degree is much stronger when coupled with skills that have been picked up through real-world experience. Working an internship or exploring careers in a field of interest can also build connections that will be helpful upon entering the workforce. Some programs do exist for this style of gap year (like teaching abroad), but they aren’t necessary for most types of internships.
While the experience of work may be helpful on its own, many people also choose to take a gap year in order to earn money. Paid work gap years are very beneficial to students interested in saving up money before starting their adult life. As college prices continue to rise, the appeal of earning some cash beforehand increases too. This style is also helpful because it teaches participants how to work before getting a higher education. Being experienced in working full time can make the transition between the time spent getting a college degree and adult life much smoother. Since working full time is no longer a foreign concept, it won’t be as hard to adapt to adult life compared to someone who’s only done school until that moment.
Finally, there’s the free radical style. The mentality behind taking this type of gap year is that it is the individual’s time to do what they want. Some students may choose to travel. Others may spend their time at home. A free radical year could even be spent doing all of the previous three styles. Ultimately, it is up to the individual.
No matter the style, gap years present students with plenty of opportunities and experiences they wouldn’t have access to otherwise.
“It’s a good time to try something different,” Mrs. Amy Peterson said. “[Students can] adventure some, explore, and figure out who they are before going to a college campus and focusing all their time on being a full-time student.”
Although gap years are somewhat of an uncommon path, they can be the right fit for some students. The dedication to service, work, or maturing can be a beneficial way of preparing for the “real world” and everything else life has to offer.