If you’re unsure of what to do after your senior year, you should consider taking a gap year.
A gap year is a year to focus on you and do something that you are truly interested in, rather than going straight to graduate school or entering the job market . You can spend the year traveling, working or volunteering abroad, either on a program or independently. It can be a great opportunity to do the things you’ve always wanted to do–or to find out what it is you really want to do.
A lot of people think of gap years as something you do before college, but taking a gap year isn’t just a post-high school activity anymore. Many college students take gap years before entering graduate school in order to work, volunteer, or go abroad when study abroad did not quite fit into their schedule. In fact, Cornell endorses gap years and even notes that employers and graduate schools are impressed by gap year veterans.
Yes, most gap years, especially those taken abroad, come with a hefty price tag. But it is definitely possible to take a gap year without having to break bank. Many students work or volunteer near their hometowns to prevent a major financial blow.
I experienced the gap year between high school and college. Although at times it’s pretty odd to be a 21-year-old sophomore, my experiences on my gap year had a tremendous influence on my path as a college student. They influenced the classes that I take, the way that I approach my schoolwork, and certainly gave me great ways to handle stress. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I would certainly make the decision to take a gap year like I did before.
As a senior in high school, I had quite a loaded schedule, packed with classes, extracurriculars, and volunteer work. I was visibly burnt out. It was hard to imagine that I would soon be solidifying the foundation of my future as a college student when I felt as though I did not even have time to decide what I wanted for breakfast the next morning. Amidst throngs of my peers frighteningly checking SAT and ACT scores and having panicky meetings with college counselors, the college application process just seemed to be another inevitable task in the assembly line that was my to-do list.
This experience is all too typical for high school students. When asked to describe her high school experience, Anna ’13 says the following words come to mind: “exams,” “papers,” “college applications,” and inevitable bouts of the most rampant of high school ailments, “senioritis.” The typical high school senior endures a year filled to the brim with sleepless nights and copious amounts of coffee at hand (a fantastic precursor to college life), attempting to end her high school career on a high note, only to savor a brief three-month break filled to the brim with graduation parties, tearful goodbyes, and shipping up to college to embark on a new chapter in her academic life, which itself will end abruptly when she is finally handed her Cornell diploma and given a hearty nudge into the “real world.”
I did not want to treat college as a mere task. I wanted to value my education and mature in ways that would equip me to handle whatever life throws at me. Upon reading the article “Time Out or Burn out for the Next Generation” by Harvard’s Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons, I was convinced that taking a year off to enrich my life in ways I would never have an opportunity to do in college seemed like the ideal choice for me.
Luckily, my parents agreed. A gap year would clear my mind, challenge me to think in ways that cannot be taught in a high school class, and provide me with a better perspective on my years as a Cornellian.
I decided to first use my summer to work in retail and volunteer as an English as a Second Language tutor. I then flew to Pune, India, to study yoga at an ashram–a complete environmental overhaul from my home in Chicago. After attempting to (and failing miserably at) master intense yoga poses, I had to learn how to meditate for painstakingly long periods of time, which certainly challenged my mind and body in ways different from a ten page paper in Jane Austen. When I wasn’t focusing on my pre-Freshman 15 physique, I helped the swamis cook and serve food for the local poor.
Later in the year, I took a cooking class in Tuscany, Italy (in case you are wondering, I was not inspired by Eat, Pray, Love. I still haven’t read the book or seen the movie…) This was quite a challenge. My “Easy Bake Oven” training proved to be a little useless when making pasta from scratch. But having the opportunity to cook in Italy allowed me to pursue something that I had wanted to do ever since clocking in boundless hours of watching the Food Network as a high-schooler.
Gap years are already commonplace in the U.K. (a major plus for all you Anglophiles out there still reeling from the royal wedding!) and are becoming quite popular throughout the United States. Consultation firms are springing up everywhere in order to connect students to the best possible opportunities, whether locally or abroad. Calaandra ’13, a fellow gap year veteran, chose to spend the first half of her gap year performing with a dance company based in Seattle, Washington, and then headed over to Santa Cruz, California to volunteer at a Baha’i retreat center. “My gap year was awesome in so many ways! I was able to experience living away from my family without the added stress of academics, so that when I did go to college I felt more prepared and comfortable. I am so happy that I decided to take a gap year!” she says.
If you are still deciding what you want to do after college, a gap year is a fantastic option to have. It will enrich your life in ways that you could never imagine and will give you an opportunity to explore your talents and fulfill your goals.