Happy New Year! I'm so grateful for a fresh start! Here's a true story for you. The other day, at the grocery store, a parent of four wonderful kids stopped me in front of the pasta section, and in hushed tones, as though it were a bad thing, shared this sincere concern: 

My youngest may not be ready for college.

That was rather anti-climatic, right? But she was so worried and at odds with the situation. She is part of a world, where, no matter what, kids go to college directly after high school. Her son, both smart and accomplished, had gotten into his top three schools, but had expressed no eagerness for the next step. His mother thought he was perhaps depressed or that there was an underlying problem. Dad was opposed to any choice other than college. She wanted choices….options. She wanted to know if I would chat with him. Well yes, of course. 

I have two surveys and he filled out both. Some of his answers really made me laugh and some were soooooo insightful. He said that I could share them with you. 

My second survey is designed to identify strengths and weaknesses so that we can compliment the first and fortify the latter. When you answer honestly it's revelatory.

It quickly became clear that this smart and funny 18 year old was 100% fine. Better than fine, actually. He was crystal clear on the fact that he had no idea what he wanted to pursue in college and that he wasn't ready to begin four more years of aggressive study. He had done well in high school, but it lacked meaning for him. He had just been checking off the boxes. It left him feeling flat and that surely there was more to ‘education.’ He had done ‘service projects’ for his college applications and participated in clubs and activities that were solely for show. This felt awful to him. After learning more about gap years and all the possibilities, he got excited. According to his mom, ‘he lit up.’ 

Do you know how fun it is to talk with young people and really listen to their needs and desires? So dang fun! It's even more fun to help create a gap experience that speaks to their ideas and furthers their field of inquiry.

THIS IS THE QUESTION ON THE SURVEY THAT GOT HIS ATTENTION. 

QUESTION: By nature, are you able to advocate for yourself when things don’t happen as expected. Examples: a flight is cancelled and it affects all your plans, or your host family is not what you expected and you feel awkward and lonely, or your excursion is cancelled and you have to make plans on your own for the weekend…in Sri Lanka. No wrong answer here...but there are definitely travel situations to avoid if you are not one who can think on your feet, self advocate, and be flexible. Again no wrong answers...just mismatched programs! (Gap years DO fail and it's often because the reality of travel was not fully imagined and fear grabbed the wheel rather than persistence.)

He loved this question. Weird, huh? Here is his awesome answer. And high-five to being more self aware than most adults I know!

Everything in my life goes ‘as expected’. I am ready for the unexpected. I am ready to feel nervous and to solve problems that are real and matter TO ME. This makes me want to get on a plane to a foreign country right this minute, because I can feel the energy of what I don't know. 

WOW! Poster child for a gap year, folks. He feels the energy of what he doesn't know. And wants to know it. And wants real world experience.

Most people, at age 18, are not equipped with the information needed to make decisions about the rest of their life. Pressure to know your career path is, in and of itself, detrimental. Not to mention pretty silly. At 18 and 19 we should be an open book. Yet we send our kids to college to declare a major that costs upward of 32K a year, and often much more. We give them complete freedom and expect them to make very mature decisions overnight in a setting that is known to be fraught with new temptations, peer pressure and real vices. 

Here are some statistics providing evidence that it doesn't always work…

30% of students drop out of college after their first year.

Only 46% of students who attend college graduate 

61% of college grads would change their majors if they could go back

80% of students in the United States end up changing their major at least once, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. 

51% of college students struggle with anxiety and depression

IN CONTRAST

American universities say that students who took a gap year achieve 23% higher grades than students who went straight to college.

60% of gap year students said that they took their academics more seriously after taking a year off from education and had more clarity around their goals.

60% of gap year students said that a year out helped them decide their major and realize their future career direction, thus saving money by eliminating costly changes in majors.

I say it ALL THE TIME, but I'll say it again. A gap year is NOT a year off. It is a year of personal growth, empowerment, learning, adventure, relationship building, self discovery, and burgeoning awareness. It is for everyone…not the late bloomer or the poor student or the alt-learner. In fact, the majority of Gap Year Base Camp clients have gotten into their college first choice.

Those who include a gap year in their educational track have a STRONG advantage over those who do not. The gap year providers that we work with offer programs that will challenge and motivate your young adult to be their best self. Some are very expensive and worth every penny. I also love to create affordable gap year plans because a gap year should be available to EVERYONE! 

If 2020 has taught us anything it's this…our world is shifting and changing. To be on the leading edge will require more than the status-quo and the college classroom is not the hallowed hall that it once was. Our willingness to pay exorbitant fees for a degree that ‘doesn’t pay' is being questioned. Colleges themselves are seeing the educational value of a gap year and are scrambling to build out their own experiential programs. Princeton offers a gap program to a select few freshman and it has been proven that the students who participate emerge with greater global competencies and a vast array of soft skills that make them more hirable than those who opted out of a gap year. Harvard encourages their incoming freshman to take a gap year. Because they know…

Gap Years are an integral part of education in Europe and Australia. If you have a high-achieving student, they have likely been running full tilt for the past four years preparing for admission to a selective college or university. A Gap Year offers a welcome opportunity to do something completely different before the next hard sprint. 

But more importantly, it offers the first step in the truest and most vital education…knowing yourself and knowing the world that you will one day need to find your place in. 

And did I mention that it will likely be the best year of your life? That's what most people say, when it's all said and done.

At GapYear Base Camp our students must take an oath of sorts. It's quite simple.

We believe that your gap experience will change you.

We believe that changed people create change.

We believe that you will become a better version of you in this process.

Stronger, kinder, wiser, bolder.

At the end of it all, we need for you….the world needs for you….to use your new super powers for good. To go forth and do good.

If you can say YES to this, then let's begin. 

 You'll need to jump right on it as our favorite programs are filling fast for 2021. Take the survey and let's begin the process. 

Here's to 2021! The world awaits and you're invited!