2008 Woodie Awards
Taking time between school, work can enhance resumes, expand worldviews
Opportunities for a 'gap year' range from volunteering in Africa to planting trees in Canada; Web sites offer information
Thomas Hoefer
Issue date: 7/3/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
After years of hard work, most students feel great relief when college has finally come to an end. All the days and nights of stress, exhaustion and anxiety are suddenly wiped away by a magical sheet of paper called a diploma. But what's next?
Many graduates waste no time and jump right into an entry-level position, either forced by bone-crushing debts or motivated by real money-earning opportunities.
But not Christian Knightly. After graduating from UCF in 2005, he sold his car, canceled his lease and traveled around the world for six months. In other words, Knightly took a "gap year."
Becoming popular in the 1990s, a gap year is when a student takes a break between college and finding a job, and it rarely lasts the whole 12 months.
The possibilities are endless, and so are sources to find them.
Whether it's a volunteering program in Africa, a high-paid yet heavy-duty job as a tree-planter in Canada or simply an extended vacation, Web sites like yearoutgroup.org or findagap.com offer information on just about anything. Adventure and exploration are the key aspects.
Looking back on his trip, Knightly had both. Within half a year, he discovered the different cultures, habits and languages of the Ukraine, Poland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Germany, Kenya, and Egypt.
Through an online community where people from all over the world offer travelers a place to stay for free, Knightly found a way to avoid hotel costs, which left him only with expenses for flights and food.
"I could stay with friends everywhere," he said. "That's why I did it."
Hanging out with locals showed him a different side of the towns he stayed at, a side he would not have seen had he been an average tourist.
In fact, the whole trip changed his view on things.
"It exposed me to the world," he said. "I feel America is very cut off from the world. We all live in one giant bubble where we have everything. We can get whatever we want whenever we want. In other countries, it's just not like that."
Many graduates waste no time and jump right into an entry-level position, either forced by bone-crushing debts or motivated by real money-earning opportunities.
But not Christian Knightly. After graduating from UCF in 2005, he sold his car, canceled his lease and traveled around the world for six months. In other words, Knightly took a "gap year."
Becoming popular in the 1990s, a gap year is when a student takes a break between college and finding a job, and it rarely lasts the whole 12 months.
The possibilities are endless, and so are sources to find them.
Whether it's a volunteering program in Africa, a high-paid yet heavy-duty job as a tree-planter in Canada or simply an extended vacation, Web sites like yearoutgroup.org or findagap.com offer information on just about anything. Adventure and exploration are the key aspects.
Looking back on his trip, Knightly had both. Within half a year, he discovered the different cultures, habits and languages of the Ukraine, Poland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Germany, Kenya, and Egypt.
Through an online community where people from all over the world offer travelers a place to stay for free, Knightly found a way to avoid hotel costs, which left him only with expenses for flights and food.
"I could stay with friends everywhere," he said. "That's why I did it."
Hanging out with locals showed him a different side of the towns he stayed at, a side he would not have seen had he been an average tourist.
In fact, the whole trip changed his view on things.
"It exposed me to the world," he said. "I feel America is very cut off from the world. We all live in one giant bubble where we have everything. We can get whatever we want whenever we want. In other countries, it's just not like that."
Be the first to comment on this story