General Interest

Tom Griffiths, Founder of UK based Gapyear.com, the most frequently visited on-line resource for gap year in the world, was quoted last week in an article (picked up on Planet Gap Year's news feed): College can wait awhile- 'Gap year' catches on with students who want to gain life experience after high school , by G. Jeffrey MacDonald in a special for USA Today. Here Griffiths speaks about the U.S. market.

"The U.S. is viewed in our sector as the sleeping giant, with the potential to surpass the rest of the world in numbers and possibly spending within the next five years."

According to a January 2007 Time article Democracy Reborn, by Rich Stengel, a 'youth quake' of participation in the voting process is taking hold in America, reversing successive declines in election cycles between 1972 and 2004. Stengel comments that "young people sense they are coming of age at a time when leadership, and their role in choosing it, really matters".

The National Service movement in the US is alive and strong. According to a September TIME Magazine article, A Time To Serve - The Case For National Service by Rick Stengel, more than 61 million Americans dedicated 8.1 billion hours to volunteering in 2006, and the nation's volunteer rate has increased by more than 6 percentage points since 1989. Volunteer and civic engagement have not been at this level since the 1970's. Why are so many people volunteering?

Ben Casnocha is a freshman at Claremont McKenna College in southern California. He created an incredible gap year travel blog documenting his experiences during his around the world adventure in 2006-2007.

Ben is astonishingly accomplished for his tender 19 years, and his own gap year is only a small part of his story, though I think, a very, very important one! In my humble estimation, Ben's Gap Year Travel Adventures blog has helped to raise awareness of the Gap Year concept in the US where it is needed most! Remember, the gap year in the US is taking hold but still far less popular than in the UK.

Kudos to Tom, a teacher and writer from Charlottesville, VA who shared some insightful comments on his blog about the article "Eye on the Goal" by Ian Shapira in the Washington Post Magazine Education Review section on August 5, 2007. You can read the article by clicking on the link below and Tom's comments at Taking a year off

Tom's blog makes some straight hitting comments on the student gap year article

Greetings America! A new web site, PlanetGapYear.com, targeted at the needs of the increasing numbers of US students who are planning a year out before college, goes live on Wednesday, October 17, 2007. You can read our press release. Finally, a site for everything you, your parents and advisers need to know about taking a year out! At PlanetGapYear.com we are passionate about providing information, articles, stories, news, gap year options and more.. in order to educate and inspire more Americans to embrace the benefits of a gap year.

In the US the gap year industry is still in its infancy, but take notice, US based organizations that offer students opportunities to volunteer, intern, study abroad, travel, learn a language or outdoor skills and certifications are frequently advertising 'gap year' programs. This is an effort to take advantage of the increasing numbers of US students taking a year out before starting college.

Admissions director, Kevin Maclennan at the University of Colorado at Boulder endorses the 'gap year' option for incoming freshman. Mr. Maclennan was interviewed by Boulder Daily Camera in August. He indicated that students opting for a gap year before college are often granted deferrals by CU admissions counselors in those cases where the student can show their plans will help them succeed in college. "We definitley say 'yes' to those opportunities", he was quoted as saying.