The Gap Year is a period of time taken away from formal education to pursue experiential learning and self discovery.

“You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it
as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative.
Think of it as your ticket to change the world”– Tom Brokaw

Go to college, get a degree, and get a job. It is the advice most school students receive. A college degree, any degree, is necessary for success, they are told. Just go to a university and figure out who you are and what you want to do there. A college degree is a sure thing. Once upon a time, this may have been sound advice. Its purpose is mainly for the personal cognitive and psychological benefit for the student. That has not changed. However, the lens in which students view higher education has. A degree is now seen as an investment, specifically an investment towards a financially stable future. Students flock to universities, not for the personal enlightenment achieved through education, but for the degree that serves as a prerequisite for a job. They have been promised that a college degree will guarantee them, at the very least, a middle class lifestyle no matter what. It is a sound investment for all.

Unfortunately, a college degree is not a golden ticket to success, and, like all investments, pursing higher education comes with certain risks; for example, crippling student loan debt, the high probability of dropping out, and wasting years and money attempting to figure out what exactly what a student would like to do.

Taking a year off before pursuing higher education may be what many high school seniors need in order to come to that understanding. Immersing themselves in life experiences—jobs, internships, volunteering, or travel—may provide the necessary framework in which to develop themselves and their interests in order to make an informed decision about higher education. The fact is that for those students who are underprepared, uninterested, undecided, or simply sleepwalking through the requirements to gain their diploma, college is not the
answer. Like any investment, college is a personal choice that must be considered in the context of that person’s life. With the current economic climate, a college education is no longer a guarantee of a middle class lifestyle; it is a risky venture just like any other
investment. Students who are underprepared for the type of academic work that will be required of them or students who have no interest in academia may not be suited to go to a university degree. They may be more successful in a trade or a certificate program. In fact, they may be happier as well. That’s where the Gap Year comes handy.

However, there is a catch: the activities undertaken in this time off must be productive in some way. The time spent away from formal schooling must help students broaden their mind, develop new skills, or benefit them in a way that could eventually be applied to
future formal education or life, however informally. It is time off for students to discover their self-identity, to immerse themselves in another culture of language, or experience a career through volunteering interning, or working. For those that would like to “test-drive” careers, a Gap Year can allow for the opportunity to gain hands on experience before they decide to invest in that career choice. Potential nurses, dentists, and doctors can volunteer in hospitals and gain practice in the medical field before they even arrive at med school. Students considering social services, environmental services, or teaching can gain similar experiences.

Travelling, volunteering, gaining work experience, or actually working, a Gap year can be anything a person wants it to be, whenever they have the time or resources for it. It does not necessarily have to be costly either; while exotic adventure service learning or world travel is an option for some, national service programs, part-time jobs, internships, and cheaper traveling options have served other ‘“gappers”’ well. Despite the variety, through anecdotal evidence, common themes seem to have emerged about the Gap Year experience. Most experiences seem to entail some form of cultural immersion, community service, learning, and travel—all either domestically or abroad. It is not spending a year watching television on a friend’s couch or a beach vacation spent in a tourist hotel. It is work; it is experiential learning.

One reason students may be drawn to a Gap Year is for the benefits it seems to provide for students who feel they have not quite reached adulthood yet. The potentially new developmental stage, called, Emerging Adulthood, may explain why students in their late teens and early 20s may need a break before investing in college. The typical characteristics of Emerging Adulthood include a more self focused approach to life and less certainty, yet more optimism, about the future, exploration, instability, self-focus, feelings of being ‘in-between’ life stages, and an awareness of the possibilities in life make up the psychological profile of an Emerging adult. While similar to that of Adolescence, there is a sense of urgency in the Emerging Adult to solve these questions of identity and purpose.

However, a more common reason students take a Gap Year is simply a need for a break. In a survey of 280 Gap Year students, burnout from school and a “desire to find out more about themselves” were cited as the top two reasons for taking a break (Haigler & Nelson, 2005). They are burnt out from schooling and the stress that comes with it. For many students, years of pressure to perform well on tests, and get into the ‘right’ college in order to pursue the ‘right’ career leaves them exhausted and overwhelmed at the prospect of college. A Gap Year, for them, gives them much needed time to recharge their academic batteries. For others who had low motivation or achievement in high school, it is a break from the struggle that school represented to them. They go back to school with more motivation, maturity, and direction needed to succeed in college.
Also, while many students may find motivation in their Gap Year, there will always be the potential—and most common—downside of it becoming a wasted year. The Gap year is meant as a time away from formal schooling but not a time-out from learning. It should be an experience that broadens the mind and results in some sort of gain in skill and knowledge. That may not always occur depending on the student and their experience. Perhaps the biggest worry of parents, teachers, and high school counselors is that if students take a break from school, they may not ever return to academic learning. It is perhaps this threat of the potential inability to return to school that sways
many high school seniors to eliminate the Gap Year from their future plans. Or perhaps it is simply a lack of knowledge of the possibilities of a Gap Year. The fast paced, goal-oriented culture seems to have taken over the school system. Most students may not be aware of the Gap Year simply because they are not accustomed to the idea of taking a break from pursuing the next goal, from pursuing higher education.

We’d love to know what oy think about Gap Year and if you could relate to our points. Let us know in the comments what do you think about it:)