Planning Your Return Home at the End of Your Gap Year by Megan Lee We know you’re too busy having fun and soaking up every adventure-filled moment of your Gap Year experience to even begin considering your days abroad are numbered, but wise students know that preparing to transition to life back home requires some advance prep. Sure, you’re excited to reunite with loved ones and stuff your face with breakfast tacos – not to mention taking a long shower with (gasp!) a loofa – but there’s much more to returning home than these simple pleasures. There are, often, unfamiliar…
Planning
The Unbelievable Career Advantages of Taking a Gap Year by Marc Mendelman There are plenty of reasons why you should consider taking a Gap Year. Finishing high school, and moving on to college is a pretty big step. You should take some time to mark this transition, and really internalize the importance of this moment. A Gap Year shouldn’t be just a period in which you can take some time to relax, though that’s pretty important as well. You should use this opportunity to figure out what you’re going to do further on, and prepare for your future career. Taking…
Health & Safety on Your Gap Year by Megan Lee Amidst all your day dreamings for the amazing adventures you are going to have on your gap year (picture it: breakfast picnicking in front of Angkor Wat at sunrise, making a tangible difference in a small Tanzanian community, tracking wombats and other wild animals in the Outback…) it is easy to skim over preparing your mind and heart for potential disaster, or serious safety issue. But let’s be real. Being proactive in ensuring your safety is a great path toward success. Here are a few tips to ensure your gap…
Tips for Choosing Where to Go & What to do on Your Gap Year by Megan Lee Alright, you’ve decided to jump a leap of gap year faith and take a break between high school and college whatever comes next in life. But now that you’re feeling uber-confident in your decision and have gotten Mom and Dad (and maybe even Grandma, if you’re lucky) to support it, two important questions remain: Where are you going to go? -and- What are you going to do once you get there? With some 200 countries to choose from and infinite possibilities of changemaking…
Why a Passion for Learning is Your Best Gap Year Souvenir by Megan Lee There’s that pair of comfy traveler pants – wild patterns with cinched waists and ankles. Or the prints of beautiful artwork made by a local you conversed briefly with. There’s the magnet for mom, the T-shirt for baby bro, and the precious charm bracelet you mentally commit to never losing. While all of these mementos have value and – hopefully won’t end up in the bottom of a dusty box in the attic as their fate – there’s one incredibly powerful souvenir that your Gap Year…
How to Find the Best Work for Your Gap Year by Amanda Wilks Gap Years are a great opportunity to get to know yourself, and find out what truly makes you tick. You can use these months to prepare for college, and gain some experience for the years ahead. It’s good chance to try out different jobs, before you figure out what field suits and settle in. If you’re looking to find work during your Gap Year, you should know beforehand what it is you want. It’s a good idea to make out a plan before your start your Gap…
How to Support Your Traveling Student From Home by Megan Lee Well done! Despite feeling nerves like never before and wanting nothing more than to squeeze your kid tight and never let go, you’ve managed to support your child as they’ve gone through the (admittedly-more-arduous-than-you-anticipated) process of preparing for a Gap Year. But now they’ve taken off from JFK/SFO/ATL, and are en-route to the learning experience of a lifetime. So, now what? Even though you’re thousands of miles away, you, as a parent, will still play a critical role in the success of your child’s Gap Year. As per usual,…
How to Bootstrap a Solo Gap Year by Blake Boles If you have almost no money, how can you fund a self-designed Gap Year experience? Most give up. Some get really creative. Victor Saad was 25 years old and seriously considering MBA programs when he decided that he could get a better learning experience—and spend much less money—by designing his own professional gap year, or in his words, a “self-made master’s degree.” He made plans to quit his job and take 12 business apprenticeships over the course of 12 months. But he had one big problem: money. Victor’s adventures would…
Letting Your Child Take a Gap Year: Overcoming Fears for Parents by Megan Lee Letting Kids Go is Hard Especially when they’re off to do things that we have not done ourselves.If you took a gap year when you were young, then it’s likely that you able to see this adventure from your child’s perspective (maybe better than they are!) Even so, you have worries, it’s natural. If you haven’t traveled, then those fears will be magnified and the unknown will seem scarier than it really is. The best thing you can do in the face of your fears is…
5 Steps to Being Prepared for Anything on Your Gap Year by GYA Admin For many people, their gap year is their first solo journey in the world. It’s a good idea to be thinking ahead and and putting some effort into becoming prepared in advance of your gap year. You’ve heard the saying, “Fortune favors the prepared,” this is true, so is my Uncle Dick’s maxim, “The 7 P’s” (Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance). With that in mind, here are five ways that you can be prepared for anything when you travel. Educate Yourself There is no…