WAIT, WHAT’S A “GAP YEAR”? It’s ok if you’re not acquainted with the term “gap year.” It’s actually a more common practice in European countries and developing nations than in America, although it’s slowly taking hold in the U.S. too – especially with Ivy League schools like Princeton, Yale and Harvard (which is definitely an attention- getter). A typical gap year, according to the American Gap Association, is meant to deepen and increase awareness, especially in terms of the practical, the professional, and the personal. I recently read this Harvard article which discussed the impact of gap year on students. Many students said that their year away was a “life-altering” experience, a “turning point,” and what many people needed. Of the students who took a gap year, the article goes on to say, “Most feel that its full value can never be measured and will pay dividends the rest of their lives. Many come to college with new visions of their academic plans, their extracurricular pursuits, the intangibles they hoped to gain in college, and the career possibilities they observed in their year away. Virtually all would do it again.” Of course, my gap year didn’t look like most people’s. I didn’t backpack across Europe or sail across the seas. I didn’t work at a farm or start my own business, and I didn’t make a documentary or run away with a circus. I think those are actually pretty awesome things that I could have enjoyed (except maybe the circus), but my priority was elsewhere – in Christ.
“GAP YEAR” TAKING HOLD WITH IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS:
LIFE- ALTERING EXPERIENCE
MANY STUDENTS SAID THAT THEIR YEAR AWAY WAS A
TURNING POINT
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