parents

My Gap Year Story
by Jacob

When was the last time your parents or someone at school came to you and said "you should take time off school and take a Gap Year?" If you're like me, then chances are probably not! But taking a Gap Year may be the best year of your life.

My name's Jake, I'm 19 and after I graduated American high school, I took a Gap Year. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do in college. So I went to a cultural immersion program in Jerusalem. I traveled to Egypt and took scuba diving lessons in the Red Sea. Then I went to Canada and became a ski instructor. After that I went to New York City and became a bartender. And as of now, I'm in Europe touring around with some British mates that I met on my ski instructor course. Sound good? It's been awesome!

Need information on the benefits of sending your student on a gap year before starting college, and easy planning steps?

Check out Mind the Gap: Taking a Year Off Before College by Julie Levine, of Enroutegapyear.com, a student gap year adviser in Missoula, MT.

Hi. I am back after a short hiatus, ready to bring some clarification to the many parents out there who have some genuine concerns about their kid taking a year out before college. First, the most frequent concern I hear from parents is that their student may lose interest in going to college if they take a year out, and it may be to their disadvantage in terms of getting into college, or getting a job! Yikes! Mom and Dad need to start reading my Gap Year News feed, and the plethora of information there. The fact is that there is convincing evidence to the contrary!