Senior Sarah Kanaan decided to take a detour on the traditional road to University land, where her travels will lead her to Ghana, Africa during what is supposed to be her freshman year of college. She postponed rigorous courses and toga parties in order to pursue a more unique dream.
“Some people think that kids who take a year off just sit around and do nothing,” said Kanaan, “But I’ll be teaching Western Civilization to high school kids.”
Not wanting to look back later in life with regrets, Kanaan wanted to do something she felt passionate about before going back in the Fall of 2010 to the university from which she requested a deferral of admissions. Unlike those who will be going straight to college next year, Kanaan also has the opportunity to enhance her application and perhaps apply to even higher-ranked schools in the future.
Taking a year off (known now as the ‘gap-year’) seems to be the new up and coming development among high school graduates advocating for community and world service.
“[Those who take a year off] have been able to learn more about themselves,” wrote Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson in their book The Gap-Year Advantage, “and they have given back to the world in ways many adults could not even imagine.”
Though the numbers aren’t quite noticeable enough to call this gap-year a trend, some very pristine colleges and universities are seeing what was formally thought of as something for only the laziest of students, with a whole new light.
According to the Washington Post, admissions officers want to see students gain a sense of culture during their gap-year or improve in the area of which they will study. The university from which the student requested a deferral often must approve that student’s plans in order to retain admission.
There have always been those students who have chosen to take a year off, but this is one of the first years it is actually being encouraged. Gap-year consultants are being paid thousands to advise students on what to do and where to volunteer during their time away from school. These counselors are joining college fairs in many places like New Trier Township High School in Illinois in order to inform students of gap-year opportunities. At Seaholm, the gap-year seems to be a kind of taboo, and curriculum is based strictly on a conventional college-bound track.
Gap-year students should not be brushed under the carpet or thought of as ignorant simply because they are aware of their options and choose to broaden their horizons on a more global level.
Gap-year students typically fall under two categories: those highly driven students who have already been accepted into schools yet choose to defer enrollment for other opportunities, and those whose grades have suffered in high school and simply need a break from their studies.
Students who fall under the former type should go ahead and take a year off, see the world, and come back refreshed with a more mature understanding of true philanthropy.
Not to say that there is anything wrong with going straight to college, for this reporter will be doing so in the Fall of 2009. However, if a person has the motivation to jump back on university avenue after his or her gap-year, then they deserve the respect and support of any other high school graduate.
“I don’t want to have to keep explaining to people that I will definitely be going back to school in 2010,” said Kanaan, “If anything, teaching those kids and living in Ghana will motivate me to go back to school even more.”
