Malia Obama will graduate high school this month, but she won’t begin her work at Harvard until fall of next year. She’s taking a “gap year” – a year off between high school and college.
Malia is not alone. The New York Times claims the gap year is growing in popularity.
“The idea is that university-bound students go on an adventure, do something meaningful and, if all goes to plan, arrive at campus a year later more mature, focused and attuned to their goals.”
My Gap Year
I’m familiar with the gap year because I took it, too, back before the practice had a name. My birthday is in the summer, so I was still 17 when I finished high school. Knowing how expensive college was going to be, I decided to postpone my entrance for a year so I could save up money for tuition.
If you think it’s just a “yearlong postponement of schoolwork,” as the New York Times article opens, then you’re missing the point. My gap year was busy. I worked full-time at our family’s printing company, got involved in local business associations, volunteered at church, and went on two overseas mission trips.
Not everyone liked the idea then, and people still worry about it now. One of my teachers, upon hearing my plan, shook his head and said, “Trevin, if you don’t go to college this fall, you’ll probably never go.”
I was taken aback. “Really? Do you think I’m the kind of guy who’s going to stop learning?”
In reply, he said something to the effect of: “You’re risking it all.”
Looking back, I have to admit my teacher was right about the statistics. In 1999, there was a much higher likelihood that failing to go straight from high school to college would lead you to abandon plans for future education.
But when it comes to what was the best decision for me, my teacher was wrong. My gap year, in which I lived at home as an adult, taught me how to juggle work, family, and church responsibilities and how to save money. I was able to detach from the peer pressure of just following the crowd of classmates into various colleges and universities. The gap year sowed the seeds for my eventual move to Romania, where I met my wife, who changed the course of my life. The gap year gave me some time to seek the Lord, sort out my goals and my gifts, and then make a bold step.
Can You Afford a Gap Year?
Today, many experts claim that a gap year leads students to perform better in college and to end up in more satisfying careers. The pushback is that only rich people can afford such a thing. Malia’s decision was criticized on social media for being out of touch with the real world.
Considering the cost of college these days, the bigger question is not “Can we afford a gap year?” but “can we afford college?”
In my experience there was something about the daily grind of working to save up for college that taught me to value my future education. The year between high school and college gave me time to think, to plan, to dream. I didn’t take a gap year because I had money, but because I needed money… and time, to figure out what should come next.
Consider the Idea
Every student has different goals, gifts, and dreams. It would be foolish to recommend all high school students take a gap year, just as it would be foolish to forbid such a thing. But I hope more Christian parents and students will at least consider the idea.
An education in life is just as valuable as an education in books. Gap years give you time to grow.
