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Taking Advantage of a Gap YearTaking Advantage of a Gap Year Taking a year off before college can benefit some students Meyers will go to Tulsa, but not until later this year. In the meantime, the 19-year-old is spending 10 months working in Wilmington, Delaware, during what's known as a gap year. By deferring college enrollment and working as an organizer for the Salvation Army--a position she found through an AmeriCorps program called Public Allies--Meyers says she is getting the kind of experience she can't get in school. "I felt like I could better take advantage of college if I knew more about where I was headed and more about the real world, so to speak," she says via telephone from Wilmington. She admits the idea is unconventional, especially for someone as focused on education as she has been the last few years. "You go through life and you have this course, this expectation," she says. "Go through school, go to college, get a good job, get married, have kids. (A gap year) doesn't fit in with the plan." But a growing number of young adults are seeking experiences and learning opportunities outside of a classroom, and often far outside of their comfort zone, in the form of a gap year. Though the idea may evoke images of taking time out to blow off steam or go backpacking through Europe, that's far from the case for people like Meyers. These students realize not everything can be learned from a book, and that they are at a unique point in their lives where they have the chance to break away from the traditional road map to experience that, says Gail Reardon, founder and director of Taking Off, a Boston-based organization that connects students with gap-year opportunities. "This is not just a chance to get out of the classroom, but to see yourself and the rest of the world through a very different lens than if you were to stay in your comfort zone," Reardon says. "... They're never going to have this opportunity again, as we who are older all know." Hands-On Learning Young people in England routinely take a gap year before going to college, and the concept is catching on in this country. Both abroad and in the United States, a gap year was once the exclusive territory of kids from well-off families taking exotic trips. But the current crop of "gappers" are more likely to be those seeking what Reardon calls "Hands-On Learning." Charles Smythe, a senior at Kickapoo High School who's graduating this month, will go to England this fall and spend about a year in a Bible study program. Smythe describes himself as someone who gets good grades and likes school, but he isn't necessarily a go-getter student. Though he plans to go to college in 2008, he hasn't yet applied to any. He's considering Missouri State University. "I thought it might be best to take more than a summer off ... and just take some time to reboot before I go back to college," Smythe says. While overseas, Smythe says he expects to gain a deeper understanding of his faith, gain some maturity, and learn to be more independent and self-sufficient. He's most looking forward to living in a different country and getting a better understanding of other cultures. He plans to travel during a three-week Christmas break. For others, a gap year can help young adults shift gears and recharge if their college choices aren't working out. Katie Palmietto, an 18-year-old Springfield native who's now a freshman at Truman State University in Kirksville, will take next year off of college to participate in an AmeriCorps program in Brockton, Mass., tutoring elementary and preschool kids in reading. Truman just isn't the place for her, she says. She's transferring to Beloit College in Wisconsin where she plans to continue majoring in history and psychology. But in the meantime, she feels the time is right to break away. "At this point in my life, this is an opportunity that I can't pass up," she says. "... It just feels like what I need right now." As a history major, Palmietto knows teaching is most likely in her future, and tutoring during a gap year will give her the chance to experience teaching. She will be paid a monthly stipend, but it won't be much. Palmietto says she's had a little trouble managing money away from home and "this will probably help cure me of that." That's the kind of thing gappers take away from their time off, says Taking Off's Reardon. "It's not the product, but the process," she says. "All the things that happen along the way. It's a taste of real life and having to think for yourself." From larger programs such as Public Allies and AmeriCorps to smaller ones like Taking Off (which caps its number of participants at 70), there are now several programs designed to connect gappers with the right opportunities. Taking Off differs from AmeriCorps in that participants pay to get in, Reardon says. While AmeriCorps usually connects people with nonprofit organizations, Reardon's group often hooks up gappers with a wider variety of opportunities, from journalism internships to working in a recording studio in Argentina to helping marine biologists study the effects of tourism on a coral reef. The goal in each instance is to bridge the gap between what a person can learn in school and how it can be applied once they're out. "You've got to start seeing the relevance of what you're doing in school and what you're going to do afterward," Reardon says. Something that's helped Meyers bridge that gap is the chance to work with several recent college graduates who are taking a gap year after college. She has caught their enthusiasm, she says. "They all have this really, really strong and obvious dedication and passion for what they do," she says. "... There's a belief that they can change the world, which is something I think we lose when we turn 10." GENERATION GAP A gap year can be a hard sell to parents, who often fear taking a year off will derail their child's educational track. Palmietto admits she was "terrified" of telling her parents she was thinking about a gap year. She's the first person in her family to go to a four-year college and says there are pressures to do well. "There's a lot that goes into that," she says. But Palmietto says she has every intention of finishing college. Her parents are OK with the idea now that they know her time off will be structured and beneficial, she says. They're more anxious about her being farther away from home than anything else. Smythe's parents actually encouraged him to go to England. His mother, Elaine, was a missionary kid who lived all over the world growing up. "Having an international experience, we highly approve of that," Elaine says. "We think it gives you a better understanding of the world, of people in other countries, and just broadens your whole world view." Still, Smythe, Palmeitto and Meyers are some of the few. Though he has been thinking about this since his junior year of high school, Smythe says he's the only person he knows who's taking a gap year. "Every single one of my friends is going to college," he says. "I don't think I know anyone who's taking a gap year." Gap years are growing both in awareness and popularity, but there's still a relatively small number of people who take one. Chip Parker, director of admission at Drury University, says out of nearly 400 freshmen who enter Drury on average in recent years, only a handful--maybe a half-dozen--defer and take a gap year. Parker recommends that potential gappers stay in touch with the schools where they are applying or have been accepted during the gap year decision-making process. Most who contact Drury about their gap year already have been accepted and want to make sure they won't lose any merit scholarships. Reardon, who founded Taking Off 15 years ago, recommends waiting until you are accepted to tell a college about your gap year. Colleges usually have more applicants than open slots and telling them about your gap year beforehand could place an applicant in a second tier for acceptance, she says. However, don't take that to mean a gap year will hurt your chances of college admission, she says. "Over 3,000 colleges and universities defer," she says. "And they do that because they get a better student." Parker says Drury is neutral on gap years. Taking one will neither help nor hurt a student's chance of admission. Meyers resents the idea that taking gap year will enhance one's resume. She was accepted to the eight colleges she applied to, she points out. She's doing it for personal growth. "I think it's been huge for my confidence," she says. "I think it'll make my transition from college to the real world that much easier."
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