Why a Gap Year Could be a Lifesaver For You
Many years ago, when I was as an exchange student in Copenhagen, Denmark, I met a number of Danes in my dorm who were a little older than the average student in my academic program in the US. I was curious and wanted to know what they had done before college – and received the same answer again and again: a gap year – or sometimes even two.
My fellow dormmates had graduated from high school and then either traveled the world, volunteered as an aid worker, done research or several internships abroad. Almost all of them had spent a significant time outside of Denmark, had become proficient in another language and agreed that taking time off from their formal educational pursuits was one of the best decisions they had ever made.
If you are reading this as an American, taking a year off from formal education might seem like an outrageous luxury. In my 25 years as a teacher and professor in the US, I rarely came across a student who did not go straight from high school to university. Taking time off to do something like travel or volunteering in a different country was extremely rare.
So why should you waste your precious time and go on an adventure when you could get academic training and then start earning money in a regular job? What would be the benefits of such an endeavor – especially if you have ADHD?
Admittedly, taking time off sounds like a luxury at first, but when you have ADHD, it might be a lifesaver.
Often, neurodivergent kids have been struggling for many years in school, have suffered through lots of challenges and are utterly exhausted when they finish high school. They might be in acute need to recover from a neurotypical system they were forced into that took away their joy of learning and told them again and again that they were a failure – or at least utterly different from everyone else. Now, after graduation, they may not only have enough clarity as to what next steps in their life should entail, but they might also need to boost their self-confidence by doing something they truly enjoy – and that isn’t necessarily related to any academic pursuits.
That takes me to my second point: finding and developing personal interests and passions. When you are busy with school stuff and extracurricular activities, you simply do not have enough time to explore other interests. Yet, it is so important, particularly for people with ADHD, to find something they love – and often that something can only be found once you are not stifled by academic demands. With a gap year, you will gain the chance to pursue your interests and learn more about your passions. And those interests and passions can translate into a successful career down the road. It is never a waste of time to gain more clarity regarding your future, whether that future will hold any academic pursuits or not.
A third challenge is that with ADHD your executive functions develop more slowly than in neurotypical kids. Skills like time management, the organization of your day, problem solving, completing assignments on time, impulse control or social skills usually take longer to mature, disadvantaging those kids compared to their peers and making it more difficult for them to succeed in college. Taking a year off to do something else and give your brain time to strengthen your executive functions can increase the chance of success in college. It will also help you develop skills such as self-awareness, self-reflection or a sense of responsibility for your own life.
Thus, if you feel you cannot afford to lose any time before college, think again. If you are not ready for college, you might struggle a lot, not just academically but possibly also socially.
“College students with ADHD,” The Journal of Learning Disabilities reports, “tend to have lower grade point averages, take longer to graduate, and have higher dropout rates than individuals without ADHD.” This means it might take you 5-6 years to graduate college which also means extra costs – and time.
A gap year might help you learn many important skills, figure out precisely what it is that you want to do in the future, and choose a college and a subject you truly love – all things that can help your college years go more smoothly.
It is important to notice that a gap year should not be a year of watching endless hours of Netflix, sleeping in, hanging out with friends or playing lots of video games. Your gap year needs to have a purpose.
Sometimes, the purpose can be a nap year, as this anonymous author so aptly describes it in her article “In Defense of the Nap Year.” If that’s the case, you should go in it with the goal to recover, re-set and re-orient yourself. A gap year can be many things – but it should be taken with the intention of finding out more about your needs and about what’s next in your life.
How do you go about planning your gap year?
First of all, set your goals – make sure you know what outcome you’d like to achieve. What do you want to accomplish? Get more clarity about your career? Recover from your time in school and gain a new perspective on academics? Discover new interests or pursue already existing passions? Home in on life skills such as problem solving or living on your own? Having your goals straight before you make any plans is important. You need a roadmap – if you do not know your destination you cannot chart your course.
Once you know about your goals, you can decide how you can best achieve them. Start planning early – in your junior or senior year of high school. There are a lot of different things you can do – from work-travel-programs to volunteer programs, from internships to language courses or college programs that offer specialty classes (e.g. a SCUBA certification).
Again, it’s important to know your goals. You can split your year into different parts to fit in many different goals: You can travel to Florence, Italy to study Italian for a few months and then come back home to volunteer for an organization such as Habitat for Humanity.
If you are lost and don’t know where to start, you can take advantage of services and organizations that help you with the logistics. ADDitude Magazine lists a number of helpful places where you can seek guidance – a few of them you can find down below:
Judy Bass with Educational Services (judy@basseducationalservices.com)
Holly Bull the preeminent expert on the U.S. programs (info@interimprograms.com)
Doré Frances with Horizon Family solutions (dore@dorefrancis.com)
USA Gap Year Fairs: Nationwide events afford teens the opportunity to speak with organizations that host gap year programs to learn the similarities and differences
American Gap Association: Information about gap year programs and research opportunities
In addition, here are a few more websites you can peruse:
Gap at SOAR: https://soarnc.org/gap-year/
Threshold Program: https://lesley.edu/academics/threshold-programs
American University Gap Year: https://www.american.edu/spa/gap-year/
Mansfield Hall Gap Year: https://mansfieldhall.org/academics/is-mansfield-hall-a-gap-year/
The Dorm: https://thedorm.com/university-and-college-support/
Go Abroad: https://www.goabroad.com/
Taking time off to explore your interests and learn more about the person you are is never a bad decision. If you establish your goals before you take time off, you should be fine. Sometimes, it’s amazing how life-changing taking a break can be – and how much you will learn in an environment that is not necessarily academic. If you can, give it a try – I’d highly recommend it!
