A Gap Year Builds Global Consciousness
You've completed your secondary education, and you're feeling the pressure to take the next step to higher ed. But you're still not sure about your major, your career direction, or why you're even going to university in the first place. Perhaps a gap year - a year off between high school and college - is what you need to stay on track.

Once upon a time, a college student gap year was considered a poor decision made by lazy and unmotivated youth. Now, however, gap programs present a socially acceptable and even desirable option. Rather than suffer academic burnout, students taking a gap year after high school broaden their horizons and learn through experience instead of textbooks.

Of course, taking a gap year doesn't entitle you to spend all your time naval-gazing; a gap year offers an opportunity to get outside yourself and explore the perspectives of others. And when you take time to learn about those who are different from you, you will learn more about yourself and the kind of person you would like to become.

When you defer college entrance by taking a gap year, you're making an investment in yourself and in your future. You're taking the time to explore your interests, which will ultimately boost your motivation once you do get to college because you will have spent time discovering the things that really matter to you. Not only will you perform better in college, you will get a greater sense of your life's direction.

Planning a Gap Year
When choosing between gap programs, there are plenty of factors to take into consideration. First, examine your motivation. Are you planning a gap year to figure out what you want to do with your life?  To see the world? To gain valuable life experience? These and others are more than valid reasons to take a college student gap year.

If you're seeking a year of supervised independence, gap programs offer a variety of options, depending on your needs. Exchange organizations offer structured semesters abroad designed specifically for gap year students. Educational foundations offer gap year adventure programs to meet the needs of students pursuing personal growth and discovery.

And when planning a gap year, you don't have to commit to just one program or activity. Mix it up: Spend a few months abroad to improve your second language skills; apply for an internship or volunteer position in a developing country; secure a teaching assistantship abroad; arrange a homestay with a family overseas; get a part-time job to help make ends meet.

In the end, though, a college student gap year is not about making money - it's about gaining a broader understanding of the world around you. And by doing that, you'll discover more about your unique role on the planet and what you need to do to fulfill that role. Then you can head back to college to acquire the skills to make it happen. The world - and you - will be better for the experience.