A Few Thoughts on Gap Years & One Great Option

So, have you decided? Is your son or daughter going to do a gap year? Maybe you have already decided where they are going and what they are going to do, or maybe you do not even know what a gap year is. For those of you who do not know what a gap year is let us take a look and find out.

A gap year is, most commonly, when a student takes a year off from traditional studies after their senior year in high school, before they go on to college, to travel, work, volunteer, possibly go on a missions trip, participate in an apprenticeship, or attend some kind of living and non-traditional academic experience.

Gap years are very common, even expected in Europe. In the UK it has become a “rite of passage for pre-university students.” -Sherifi In America gap years are quickly gaining popularity and preference among families, universities, and employers, and for good reasons.

Reason #1 for the Gap Year: Cultural & Life Experience

Being ready for life has so much more to do with experiences, maturity, insight, lessons learned, and relationships formed, as opposed to just having a degree or a certification. We are humans, with a soul, a body, and spirit. Therefore, we ought to expect the education we receive to help cultivate the fullness of who we are. What I find inspiring about the gap year is the unique nature of it to attend to the whole man. Rather than just taking a class here or there you are truly engaging the whole learning experience with all your senses, your soul, your mind, your hands, and your and feet. Your whole being is at work and leisure with the entirety of the experience.

 

“Taking a gap year now is seen as an asset in the workplace and employers are actively encouraging people to take gap years to earn skills and ‘life experience’. They want confidence and the ability to communicate across cultures. In a survey for gapyear.com in 2011, 63% of UK HR professionals said that a constructive gap year spent volunteering or gaining work experience overseas made a job application stand out. In the future it will be less a question of whether you can afford to have a gap year and more whether you can afford not to have one.” -Sherifi

In addition, for most, extended travel is involved. Extended travel provides a special opportunity to gain insight into other cultures, this is absolutely invaluable. Let me give you an illustration. One of my husband’s friends is an excellent user experience architect. He is highly skilled, he has a couple certifications, and he has a visionary way of thinking about life and business. He has what any modern American would say is “enough” to be successful in his field. What is interesting is what he shared with us about his struggles at work. The number one area he has trouble and issues with is how to relate to and lead his team members who are very different in their cultural orientation. Different cultures have different values, customs, views on man, God, and others. Learning about these things and understanding how to love our neighbor in the best way we can is vital. My husband’s friend is reading and studying so he can become a more effective leader for his team. To me this is exactly what Socrates was talking about when he said we needed to learn the ‘kinds of soul.’ The kinds of soul are the tendencies, proclivities, nuances, and nature of a person. It is an essential part of leading others. If we cannot perceive the kinds of soul, then we cannot be effective leaders or effective rhetoricians. I do believe the Holy Spirit helps tremendously with this, but we also need to do our part and experience as much as we can. Learn with the motivation of becoming equipped to love each person we come across in sincerity and truth. Again, the unique nature of some gap year programs serves this end.

[box]  “Education concerns the whole man; an educated man is a man with a point of view from which he takes in the whole world. Education concerns the whole man, man capax universi, capable of grasping the totality of existing things.” -Josef Pieper, Leisure, the Basis of Culture[/box]

Reason #2 for the Gap Year: Rest & Leisure

“Perhaps the best way of all to get the full benefit of a “time-off” is to postpone entrance to college for a year. For nearly 40 years, Harvard has recommended this option, indeed proposing it in the letter of admission. Normally a total of about 80 to 110 students defer college until the next year.  The results have been uniformly positive.” -Harvard

I am not surprised by this at all. We are a crazy busy country and culture. If we are trying to educate our children in the Christian classical tradition, then rest and leisure cannot be sacrificed, with that said we come to the unique nature of the gap year once again. The gap year structure, at least in the programs I have looked at, are built around this principle. This reason alone is enough for me to do what I can to help my children be able to embark on such an experience.

 

“Among other things, it might be pointed out in reply that the Christian and Western conception of the contemplative life is closely linked to the Aristotelian notion of leisure. It is also to be observed that this is the course of the distinction between the artes liberales and the artes serviles, the liberal arts and servile work.” -Josef Pieper, Leisure, the Basis of Culture

The above Pieper quote is a profound thought. Pieper asserts that the core distinction between what makes our children’s education one that cultivates a free man versus a slave is leisure and contemplation. Of course, we all are doing our best to cultivate this atmosphere in our homes as we homeschool, but there is something about going away on a retreat that one cannot duplicate at home. What better way to bless our children with this gift of leisure than with a year-long retreat filled with leisure, experience, and contemplation?

Reason #3 for the Gap Year: Mentorship

The third reason, a family ought to consider a gap year for their students, is the reason of mentorship. The time after high school is a time of transition and becoming. Students leave their parent’s house in one form or another and face the world.

I am not ignorant of the fact that my son or daughter will not share every struggle they have with me. Students are going to have thoughts and ideas about life and reality they do not even think to articulate. My children need mentors, other godly people, not their parents, who can lead them and speak into their lives for their good and God’s glory.

I cannot imagine them going off without real adult accountability during this tradition phase. It cannot be me at this point, and it has to look different than being at home and answering to mom and dad, especially for boys.  They have to own somethings for themselves.  Here is one student’s reflection on what a gap year did for him.

 

“After the disappointment that the end of high school brought on, I rediscovered myself and became comfortable in my new skin.  I found passion in travelling and learning, and became enthralled with the world of behavioral economics.  The time allowed for deep and meditative introspection, and I found strength in my new situation.  When it comes down to it, being 19 years old is like no other time in your life.  You’re old enough to be considered an adult, but no one expects anything from you.  You can travel and work freely, but you’re not expected to have everything figured out.  Youth is still on your side, and it is a very rare opportunity.  I doubt that there will another time in my life where I have such uncompromised freedom to pursue what I want on such a broad scale.” -Hollenberg, gap year participant, and student at Harvard

So where do we begin looking for the right opportunity for our students?

While I have not researched the plethora of opportunities extensively, I have discovered a couple wonderful gap year programs for the classical student, or any student who wants to grow in virtue, cultural experience, and great ideas.  I will tell you about my favorite so far. It is the gap year program at the Center for Western Studies, located in Memphis, TN.

The mission of the Center for Western Studies is to explore, evaluate, and pass on the “great conversation” of Western Civilization by way of a Christian view of life and the world. They have a year long gap year program filled with all the richness the western/classical tradition has to offer.  Here is a little more about what your student would encounter.

• Get a better grasp of a Christian view of the ideas of our civilization.
• Get a better grasp of how ideas are transmitted through literature, art, and history.
• Grow into college-level work by way of one-on-one tutorials with college professors.
• Work part-time while studying to get some experience in the working world before finalizing college studies.
• Just get a little more life experience before going to college to get the most out of college studies.

In addition, the students work their way through some the most influential literary classics of Western Culture as well as the art, music, and architecture that coincides with the works being studied.

“This literature and art pass on some of the ways our ancestors regarded life, and specifically how they connected belief with action.  Some ideas are worth holding still, some are not, but at every turn our students have a professor who approaches these works with a Christian mind, committed to discerning the Truth wherever it might be found, preparing solid foundations on which to build our students’ further education.” -Center for Western Studies

Finally, Center students, led by the Director, travel to L’Abri (Rochester, MN), Washington, DC, London, Cambridge, Paris, and Chartres. Exciting right!?

This gap year program makes my heart sing. I hope my children will attend one day. John Hodges, the director of the Center, is just incredible. Mr. Hodges has led me through two work of music and each time there were tears and growth in virtue. Visit their website, CenterWS.com, to learn more about the program, the work, volunteering, student housing, student life, and tuition.

Expanding wisdom, extending grace,

Jen

Below are some resources and further reading about gap programs. So, what are you thinking? Are you leaning towards a gap year? Has one of your students already been on a gap year? We would love to hear your stories and thoughts.

Join the Conversation

Resources & Further Reading

1. The Center for Western Studies
2. The History of the Gap Year by Macca Sherifi {GapYear.com}
3. Should I Take Time Off by Harvard College
4. The Unexpected Gap Year by Eric Hollenberg {Harvard College}
5. Gap Year’ Before College Gives Grads Valuable Life Experience by G. Jeffrey MacDonald {USA Today}
6. Mind The Gap (Year): A Break Before College Might Do Some Good by Kirk Carapezza {NPR News}
7. Why Your High School Senior Should Take a Gap Year by Randye Hoder {TIME}
8. Taking a Gap Year: What Students Should Consider by  Emily Driscoll {FOX Business}