by Iona Michael, Age 19
In the year 2020, many things went wrong. One of the tragedies of this harrowing year was the sudden end to public education for thousands of students. Many studies have shown that the pandemic had devastating and lasting effects on education and mental health. Dropout rates had one of the biggest increases in years as well as mental health experts reporting extreme increases in anxiety and depression among students.
For me, 2020 was my first year of high school. During this year, me and my peers attended a required class that was supposed to be the place where we planned our futures. On the first day, we went around the room, introducing ourselves and saying what we wanted to do after high school. It seemed that everyone already knew exactly what that looked like for them. They knew what they wanted to study or work in, where they wanted to go do to so, and how they were going to do
it. For me, I was absolutely clueless. So clueless that if you asked me now what I responded when it was my turn, I couldn’t tell you. After everyone answered, the teacher proceeded to tell us that whatever we chose to do in life, we were doomed and would be miserable. This one experience put me into a quite existential place whenever I thought about my life after high school or attended that class. I had hobbies, ideas, and goals, but no idea how any of those things could turn into a “realistic” career or education path.
Long story short, my education there ended when schools were shut down, and I never attended the class again. But my questions and existentialism still remained. What on earth was I going to do when high school was over? It took me the remainder of my high school years to figure out that question and realize I was a person who didn’t want to go down the traditional path. It was a slow process accepting what felt right for me and navigating a future that wasn’t so strictly defined. When I finally graduated, I knew what I wanted to do, but felt in no rush to immediately start my years of college education. I was, and remain to be, a new adult, in a big world. After 12 years of school, I felt the need to take a break and experience something different. I decided to take a gap year.
Gap years can be so much more than just taking a break from academics. They can be used as opportunities to explore new things, gain life experience, build skills, as well as confidence. For me, taking a gap year was a great choice and has taught me so much. In this past year, I’ve moved to a new country, met dozens of inspiring and unique people, learned about, and experienced a wide variety of lifestyles and ideas. This experience has reminded me of the importance of looking outside of the “normal” way of the world, it has taught me invaluable information about myself and society and has reassured me that education and life experiences can exist and occur outside of traditional expectations.
It’s a common belief that we as people must always have a plan, we must be working for the next thing, to have the next idea, to dream big. These aren’t necessarily bad things, but we should reflect upon this mindset to make sure it isn’t doing more harm than good. We shouldn’t overlook the importance of taking breaks, of having time and space to explore, connect, recover, and inspire. In my experience, taking a break has been rejuvenating and empowering. It has shown me that there is no right way to experience personal growth and success, it has given me the opportunity to reflect on my academics and myself. I love to learn and being able to reconnect with that side of myself has given me motivation and excitement for the future. When I think about the idea of going back to school now, vs. a year ago, it no longer comes with the feelings of uncertainty and doubt. I feel a new sense of enthusiasm and inspiration within myself and I’m ready for whatever comes next.
The year is 2024, and the world is changing rapidly around us. We should adjust our mindsets and be open to this change. Embrace and accept alternative ideas for life paths, encourage students and other young minds to choose what feels right for them, and look at the benefits of these paths. We need to stop the harmful idea of measuring your success and worth based on the career or education you have. Success looks different for so many people so we shouldn’t have just one idea of what it looks like.
Whether you’re like me and you graduated in 2023, you haven’t graduated yet, or you graduated years ago, it’s okay to not know exactly what you’re doing next, and it’s okay to need time to figure it out. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, or not ready to make the transition to university yet, maybe consider taking a gap year? Who knows what you might discover about yourself or the world!
If you are curious about gap years, I urge you to explore this curiosity, and I have added a few additional resources below:
- Upcoming Gap Year Camp
- Another blog regarding gap years written by Kirsten McCormick
- Ted talk about gap years: