Please see the Gap Year Section of the Encyclepedia.

 

 

Mohn, Tanya. (2006, September 3). “How to Become a World Citizen, Before Going to College.” The New York Times.

 

 

Overview

Erin Sullivan of Lawrenceville, N.J. works four jobs, totaling about seventy hours a week. She is eighteen years old, and this is the summer following her high school graduation. This question is: Why? Erin’s hard work is a short-term investment in what she hopes will be a year-long experience of growth, adventure, and language study in Latin America. Her matriculation at AmericanUniversity can wait a year. “I want a better idea what I’m going for before I go,” says Erin.

 

This phenomenon, traditionally known as the “gap year,” appears to be on the rise, particularly among middle-class families. Mohn cites several reasons why young people are giving it a go, and why parents are on board with it:

 

·        Tuition is a big investment, and a risky one. Roughly thirty percent of freshmen do not return for a second round. An interim year abroad might help the student gain maturity and focus before landing on campus.

 

·        Experiences abroad can bring important life skills while also boosting the résumé.

 

·        Students often learn to live on a slim budget, and to navigate unfamiliar cultures.

 

·        More financial consultants and gap-year programs have made the idea accessible and advisable. 

 

·        The payoffs from doing community service and volunteer work are immeasurable.

 

So where are the students going? What is it costing them? Mohn’s subjects spent time in India, Europe, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Peru and Costa Rica. The average gap-year cost was $10,000-$12,000. One male student flew from Princeton, N.J. to New Zealand to spend the year doing conservation work and sheep farming – all to the tune of about $7,000 (including air fare). Rae Nelson and Karl Haigler’s recent book, The Gap-Year Advantage (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2005) offers advice on low-cost programs and other money-saying tips for students. In some cases scholarship money is available, particularly through programs devoted to helping low-income youth make the trip.

 

But there are important considerations to keep in mind. Most students seem to have gained deferral approval from their colleges, a bit of communication that shouldn’t be overlooked. If the student is set to receive financial aid from their college or university then it would be wise to make certain the aid package will remain intact if a gap-year is taken. As for the travels, students have certain logistics to think about: air fare, program fees, inoculations, health insurance, passports/visas, and gear. But on the whole that’s no more of a headache then marching through the maze of freshman orientation.

 

 

Questions for Reflection and Discussion:

 

1.      Have you talked with teenagers you work with, or your own teenagers, about the possibility of a gap-year?

 

2.      What areas of growth do you think he/she might need before starting college? What kinds of places and cultures would they like to immerse themselves in?

 

3.      Would the teenager consider going with a program? A friend?

 

4.      Would this be a big step of trust for you as a parent, youth-worker?

 

5.      What do the admissions/entrance counselors at the college or university have to say about the value or risk of gap-years for incoming freshmen?

 

6.      Would a summer of money-making hard work be possible for your teenager? A good preparatory step?

 

 

Implications:

Deferring college in order to spend a year abroad is certainly a step of faith on the part of parents and teenagers. Of course, so is a sudden transition from high school to college. As increasingly ‘globalized’, ‘aware’, and ‘networked’ as this generation of young people is said to be, actually setting foot and going to work in a foreign country can provide a teenager with invaluable opportunities for growth. Erin

’s story, and those like it, implies that a gap year is more than a ‘luxury,’ and may be a step worth taking. 

 

Christopher S. Yates cCYS