My name is Sylvia and this is my Gap Year Blog! My content will vary from travel tips to location recommendations to day to day blog posts.
Why a Gap Year?
After researching universities, applying for financial aid, touring schools all over the US, receiving various acceptances and rejections, and working tirelessly with my college counselor… I decided not to go.
Why, you might ask? Maybe I was burnt out from high school. Maybe I was disappointed I didn’t go Ivy. Maybe I had seen other members of my family move to Dubai, Lesotho, and Antarctica so I knew I could do it too. And maybe it was the only thing I actually knew I wanted.
So, I declined my acceptances and started looking at what else I would be able to do. I ended up landing a work for accommodation opportunity in Port Macquarie, Australia and everything just felt like it suddenly fell into place.
Now that I am nearly halfway through the year, I understand exactly why this was the best choice for me.
I would not have benefitted from college. I would have had fun, but I would not have studied things I actually care about. Here, I am able to be fully independent, take responsibility for my mistakes, manage my money, and learn real life skills – all of which I was definitely ready to take on.
Gap Year…s?
Okay, I’ll be honest. I do not know when any 2023 college application deadlines are and I have no intention of finding out. I plan to travel for however long I am able or until I’m ready to move on to the next phase of my life. Until then, I do not plan on rushing past where I’m at right now.
Cheaper than you think
When people think of traveling, they think of luxury experiences that cost an arm and a leg. If price is what’s holding you back from traveling, then book a ticket already because there are so many ways to travel for cheap.
- Work for Accomodation
- Stay in hostels
- Buy groceries and cook
- Travel slowly
Let’s get real for a second though. The US has a pretty toxic mentality on education and careers. We’re in school for 12+ years, are expected to figure out a career in only 4 more years of studies, and then we need to find work afterwards to pay off all those loans we collected. If we don’t go to college, fewer places want to hire us and we’re screwed, right? Yes, there are absolutely professions that necessitate higher education! Yes, if you can afford it you should totally take the opportunities such institutions give you! But it should not feel as though it is the only option you have right after graduating high school.
All of that is to say… if you want to take time to do something you are passionate about that isn’t college, just go for it – it could be the best choice you ever make.
Sylvia's Gap Year 