Understanding the Gap Year: Exploring Opportunities for Personal Growth and Development

A gap year, often referred to as a sabbatical year, is a break typically taken by students between high school and college or during their college years.

According to the Gap Year Association, a gap year is
"a semester or year of experiential learning, typically taken after high school and prior to career or post-secondary education, in order to deepen one's practical, professional, and personal awareness."

This period, usually lasting about a year, is an opportunity for individuals to step back from formal education to engage in what we like to call “life” education and includes skills that contribute to personal growth, learning, and development. For those teens and new adults who grew up during the Covid years and were part of what Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, calls the The Great Rewiring of Childhood, the idea of a gap year would allow these new adults to pursue opportunities that allow for practice engaging with the “real” world as opposed to the “virtual” world which can lead to confidence and competence in life as a whole.

It is a time where each new adult can become the “hero” of their own story and embrace the agency and self-governance that an intentional gap year would provide.

A gap year is a break typically taken by students between high school and college or during their college years.

Let’s Clarify the Difference Between an Intentional or GUIDED vs. Unstructured Gap Year

The idea of a gap year is becoming more and more common and often presented as a solution for those new adults who don’t go to college. Slowly, it is becoming a more “normalized” path.

But what does it mean to take a gap year?

I was in an optical store recently and struck up a conversation with the new adult that was helping me with my eyeglasses. At one point in the conversation he mentioned that he was taking a gap year. That piqued my interest so I asked him what he was doing during this time. His reply, “I am working full time and living at home.” Without specific goals or intentionality about how one wants to grow or gain experience during this gap, it is highly likely that at the end of the “gap year”, there is still a “gap.”

A guided gap year allows for diverse experiences that are appealing to hiring managers and stand out on college applications.

I observe this scenario quite a bit in the community I live in - high school graduates that don’t go away to college for whatever reason, but continue to live at home and take some community college courses and/or work. I can imagine the disorientation that is happening not only in the lives of the new adult but with parents as well. Graduating from high school into adulthood is a major life transition - for the new adult and for the parents.

But what happens when NOTHING about life changes except that instead of taking classes in high school, you take classes (often virtually), at a local community college?

Intentional or guided gap year options allow for diverse experiences that are appealing to hiring managers and stand out on college applications.

An intentional or GUIDED gap year, however, is one where the new adult has specific goals that they want to accomplish and has a plan to do so. An intentional gap year allows for new experiences with new people and often in new locations.

It is also an opportunity for new challenges and possible failures. Intentional or guided gap year options allow for diverse experiences that are appealing to hiring managers and stand out on college applications. They provide opportunities for greater self awareness and others awareness. Perspectives widen and personal goals can be clarified based on life experience during the gap year.

Types of INTENTIONAL or GUIDED Gap Year Options

A gap year can be tailored to fit individual goals and interests, making it a highly customizable experience. Gap year consultants exist to help new adults define what they want to accomplish during a gap year and advise on a plan to accomplish those goals. Some of the more popular gap year experiences include:

1. Travel and Adventure
Many gap year participants choose to travel, exploring new countries and immersing themselves in different cultures. This can include backpacking, road trips, or joining organized travel programs. Traveling fosters independence, adaptability, and a deeper understanding of global perspectives.

2. Volunteer Work
Volunteering during a gap year is a meaningful way to give back to communities while gaining valuable life experience. Volunteering creates a sense of life purpose and allows people to engage with the world interpersonally. In a time when many new adults grew up with a “phone based” instead of “play based” childhood, opportunities to develop interpersonal skills is a benefit to new adults.

3. Internships and Work Experience
Securing internships or work placements can provide hands-on experience in a chosen field, making a gap year an excellent time for career development and exploration. This path allows individuals to build their resumes, develop professional skills, and establish networks that can be advantageous in future job searches. It can also be helpful for a new adult to “dip their toes in the water” of a career of interest before pursuing a college degree in a field they don’t know much about.

4. Educational Programs
Some students use their gap year to continue their education in a less formal setting. This might involve enrolling in language courses, attending workshops, or pursuing certifications in areas of interest. Educational gap years can help bridge the transition between high school and college or provide additional qualifications.

5. Creative and Artistic Pursuits
For those with a passion for the arts, a gap year can be devoted to developing creative skills. This might include studying music, painting, writing, or performing arts. Engaging in creative projects can be fulfilling and may open doors to future artistic endeavors.

6. Identity and Spiritual Growth and Exploration
Taking time, during this disorienting phase, to understand and know oneself and the Lord better has the advantage of “rooting” people in important beliefs about themselves, about life and about their faith.

***At The Gap at Sawmill Meadow…***

We approach the gap year holistically and incorporate all of these elements into our program. Moving away from home to practice being an adult, with real consequences, is a hallmark of our program.

The practice, and failures, are guided by mentors and an onsite host couple. Each attendee is required to work and pay for part of their way through the program on a schedule. They are required to learn and practice skills like budgeting, interviewing for jobs, building resumes, planning and cooking meals and volunteering in the community.

Growing in understanding of personal identity, establishing values and a personal mission statement, is key to filtering future decisions about how one wants to BE in the world. And most importantly, ***we learn why Jesus matters in our lives and how to practice being Jesus in the world.***

Statistics About a Gap Year

The benefits of a gap year seem intuitive. There are several studies available that speak toward many benefits of a gap year. GapYearAssociation.org (GYA) is a resource that compiles and shares much data about the gap year experience. Bear in mind that GYA specifically defines gap years as INTENTIONAL time “in the gap” so we make the assumption that the data presented is based on that definition. Some of their data shared include:

Australian students were more likely to take a gap year if they had low academic performance and motivation in high school. Yet former “gappers” reported significantly higher motivation in college – in the form of “adaptive behavior” such as planning, task management, and persistence – than did students who did not take a gap year. Furthermore, “gappers” reported a lessened instance of “mal-adaptive” behavior” as a result of their gap year. [Martin, Andrew J., Journal of Educational Psychology, “Enhancing student motivation and engagement: The effects of a multidimensional intervention,” 2008]
The highest three rated outcomes of gap years is that of gaining “a better sense of who I am as a person and what is important to me” followed by “[the gap year] gave me a better understanding of other countries, people, cultures, and ways of living” and “[it] provided me with additional skills and knowledge that contributed to my career or academic major.” [Haigler & Nelson, independent study of 280 Gap Year students]
Burnout from the competitive pressure of high school and a desire “to find out more about themselves,” are the top two reasons students take gap years, according to a survey of 280 people who did so by Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson of Advance, N.C., co-authors of a forthcoming guidebook on the topic. [http://online.wsj.com]
A new study of more than 900 first-year students by Sydney University researchers has revealed that not only did taking a year off have a positive effect on students’ motivation, it also translated to a real boost in performance in the first semesters at university. [http://www.heraldsun.com.au]
Many teenagers in other countries wait a year after high school before heading to college. In Norway, Denmark and Turkey, for instance, more than 50 percent of students take a year off before college, according to the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education in Oslo, Norway.” [ http://www.desmoinesregister.com]

The above data only skim the surface. For The Gap at Sawmill Meadow, we measure the attendees' self-perception of their ability to manage life responsibilities, how well they love God, love themselves and love others. 100% of The Gap at Sawmill Meadow attendees report improvement in all of these categories and all of them had a specific “next step” plan after their time in South Fork.

But at The Gap, we do things differently.

Cost of a Gap Year

The cost of a gap year can vary widely. Those programs that are more structured, guided and intentional usually cost more. A quick review of many gap programs point to costs being in the $11,000-$29,000 range with outliers on either end.

The cost of a typical Gap Year vs The Gap at Sawmill Meadow

But at The Gap, we do things differently. Our program is structured so that attendees can comfortably cover their costs month by month, directly from their earnings within the program's unique work component.

Here's the breakdown:

Initial Investment: A one-time deposit of $1,100 secures your spot, covering June's accommodation, meals, and adventure activities.
Monthly Commitment: From July to March, each gapper contributes $1,100 monthly for ongoing expenses, totaling $11,000 for the entire program.
Sponsor Commitment.*: $2500 one time donation to The Gap or $250/mo for 10 months in honor of the sponsored attendee.
Scholarships - The initial investment, monthly and sponsor commitments cover about 50% of the cost of the program. The remaining cost per attendee is provided by scholarships from donors who believe in the next generation and want to leave a legacy of life change to them.

Won’t These New Adults Be Behind Their Peers if They Don’t Go To College

Higher education is a valuable option for every new adult. But, higher education as the “default” path may not be the right path for every new adult right now.

The maturity and personal growth gained from a guided gap experience can easily lead to a more successful and purposeful college experience where one enters being more secure in the path they want to pursue in college. Rather than trying to figure it out while they are there. The research is showing that those who have a guided gap experience perform better academically in college after that experience.

In fact, many universities, especially elite universities recognize the value gained from a guided gap experience and encourage their students to pursue a gap experience. A quick google search will reveal a surprising list of universities who recognize the benefit of a gap experience. And, let’s not kid ourselves, college is expensive. It isn’t the best “testing” ground for failures. Consider this:

The research is showing that those who have a guided gap experience perform better academically in college after that experience.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, (NCES,) the six-year completion rate for first-time, full-time undergraduate students who began seeking a bachelor's degree at a 4-year institution in fall 2013 was approximately 60%. This means that about 40% of these students did not complete their degree within six years. This data is pre-Covid.

And I don’t know about you, but when I sent my kids to college, the target finish date (and what we saved for) was to graduate in 4 years. Maybe 5 if it was a particularly difficult degree plan. It certainly wasn’t 6 years. Yet, we found ourselves with a new adult child who took 7.5 years. I wonder what happened to those other 40% who didn’t finish in 6 years?

There's no one-size-fits-all path to maturity.

At The Gap at Sawmill Meadow, we firmly believe growth isn’t uniform and that there's no one-size-fits-all path to maturity. Everyone deserves to flourish in their unique purpose, equipped with the right tools for life’s responsibilities.

As parents, we've been there—navigating those moments when your child needs to move back home, seeking love over judgment, and clinging to hope in seemingly hopeless times. We've supported our own child when college, the "default" path, was not his to walk. This personal journey inspired us to create The Gap at Sawmill Meadow—a haven for exploration with both guidance and guide-rails and we have seen the benefits of time in the gap.

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