As the sun rose in Cádiz, an ancient beach town on Spain’s southern coast, I headed into the ocean in search of a refreshing reset and a peaceful start to my day. A half hour later, I was caught in a strong rip current, far from the shore despite my attempts to swim closer. The waves got stronger while my breath grew shorter, and I was sure as I looked up at the sky that that was it — I was about to die alone in the ocean, in a foreign city in a country on the opposite side of the world, away from everything and everyone that I loved.
After shouting ‘ayuda’ and ‘auxilio’ to the distant surfers, a man named Davíd came to my rescue and returned me to shore, not before alerting me that there was no world in which I would’ve gotten out of that rip current alone … right.
From that moment, I had two grand epiphanies: I needed to be more grateful for the life I was living, and I was thankful to my gap year for allowing me to experience adventure, growth, and enlightenment.
Around this time last year, I was a high school senior, blissfully unsure what the future held for me. After spending hundreds of dollars on college application fees and SAT’s, I felt robbed of what should have been a rewarding experience. I realized that, unlike most of my peers, I wasn’t experiencing an overwhelming sense of dread as I awaited our acceptance letters. As soon as my mother suggested taking a gap year, I knew that was my path.
“When I finished high school, I went to Montreal for six months to learn French, and that gave me time to travel, meet new people, be away from home, and figure out what I really wanted to do,” teacher and mother, Monica Cuevas said. “Based on my experience, I really wanted both my daughters to have that option available without feeling the pressure that they needed to go to college immediately.”
There is a common misconception that people who take a gap year often avoid returning to school. Still, according to Tilting Futures, 90% of students return to school with a reignited passion for learning and the ability to connect education with real-life experience. Studies conducted by the Dean of Admissions at Middlebury College found that students who took a gap year academically outperformed their peers. Taking a break from school allows people to grow: discover and develop hobbies, enrich themselves by exploring new experiences, and dedicate time to what they deem important.
Many prestigious institutions, such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and MIT, encourage admitted students to defer enrollment so they can learn and grow outside the classroom. Occasionally, accomplishing something during a year off can improve admission chances, and Harvard notes that time away rarely makes a candidate less valuable or less well prepared.
“I applied to college before I chose to defer for a year. I was in between Emory and UT Austin, and I asked both schools for a deferral, which, luckily, they both said yes,” 21-year-old Emory student Allie Tachner said. “The only way it affected my admissions process was because I thought it would be nice to go to a school that had other students who took gap years, and I knew of a few at Emory that had.”
Gap years are beneficial for students unsure of which career path to pursue, as well as for those who want to explore their interests outside an academic setting.
According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, 33% of students in a Bachelor’s program change their major at least once; about 1 in 10 change their major more than once; and the change is more prevalent in STEM fields. Instead of pressuring undecided teenagers to declare a major and spend thousands of dollars in an institution straight away, those students should take a year to explore, evaluate, and experience to form a more concrete idea of who they want to become.
“If you have any doubts about the year ahead and think that you would benefit from taking a year off to figure some things out about yourself, take a few moments because there are so many options out there, and many kids feel the same way. All it gives you is the chance to pause and reflect and give you more personal growth,” Tachner said.
But the most important thing to do once you’ve decided to take a gap year is to plan it thoroughly, set goals for yourself, and know your final destination.
The beauty of taking a year off is just that– you have an entire year to do anything your heart desires, endless opportunities and adventures awaiting. For instance, people who have spent years learning a foreign language could travel abroad and put their knowledge into practice. Those interested in gaining career experience outside of school could join a non-profit or complete an internship. Some people want to work, save money, and live comfortably. Or, you could do a bit of all three.
By June of last year, I was sure that my sabbatical had to involve work, writing, and travel. At the start of the first semester, I was fortunate to have three jobs and to be accepted into a fellowship to write for VOX ATL, all the while conducting interviews with families in Europe to become an au pair. Now, nearing the end of my second semester, I am a published writer and editor. I’m working in Madrid as an au pair and plan to pursue my undergraduate studies there. I’ve traveled to twelve new cities, all the while using the money I’d earned from working last semester.
While gap years can be beneficial for students who are unsure of what they want to do, I’d argue they’re even better for those who are certain.
“Gap years are beneficial when students are intentional and have a plan,” high school counselor Carla Brown said. “It’s a great opportunity to get exposure and experiences that students wouldn’t normally get because of academic obligations.”
Since the moment I saw my first article published on the front page of my high school newspaper, I knew I wanted to become a journalist. This past year and all its diverting sidequests have further solidified my passion to be a storyteller and writer, while also allowing me to expand my professional portfolio in a multitude of ways. Knowing what you want to study and having it be a matter of when and where allows students to foster their interests in a real-world context.
It helps focus students’ academic and career paths; according to statistics from the American Gap Association, 81% of students who had a gap year say it influenced their career choice. Nearly all said the year increased their self-confidence (97%) and that they felt an advantage applying for college/jobs (82%).
With that being said, deciding to take a gap year can be quite an isolating experience, knowing that your peers are advancing to higher education, familiarizing themselves with new campuses, and experiencing freshman year while you’re on hiatus. There are times when you might feel FOMO and wish that you’d taken the ‘normal’ path, or be worried that you’ve fallen behind the rest of your class. And to that I say, so what? There is no linear path in life; everyone experiences detours, standstill traffic, and blissful cruises down the road. There is courage and confidence in deciding to deny societal norms.
Across the Nordic countries, 49% of upper secondary school students plan to take a gap year lasting 1 or 2 years, with an additional 10% planning a break of 2 to 3 years. In stark comparison, only 2-3% of students take a gap year in the United States. While there are certainly cultural differences between the two, teenagers’ post-high-school dilemmas are generally the same worldwide.
“About half of my classmates took a gap year,” 19-year-old Finland resident and AuPair Saga Lindqvist said. “Some didn’t get into where they wanted to go, and a lot of my friends are also au pairs. It’s very nice to have a break, find yourself, and see the world.”
A few weeks after I’d moved to Madrid, my aunt reached out to see how I was doing and to congratulate me on my new adventure: “You’ve officially done it, bienvenidos a la escuela de la vida. Enjoy the moments, learn from them, and take the valuable ones with you.”
Maybe I didn’t spend my days studying for midterms or finals, though I felt for all my friends who did. Instead, I learned how to incorporate work into my daily life effectively and to deal with the dreadful process of government paperwork in a foreign country. Sure, I wasn’t able to go out on game days or experience the freshman dorm living. Rather, I spent my days reading books to two-year-olds and indulging in different forms of media.
In many ways, a gap year isn’t a break from school; it’s just a different form of it — one without the stress of grades, tests, and drama. Taking a gap year means you’ve enrolled in a much more valuable education: the school of life, where each experience is worth learning from and appreciating what the world has to offer.
