“Sending our 20 year old son on a GAP semester in Southeast Asia turned out to be a great decision. He came home with life-long memories and friends. He also went back to college with a new focus and a clearer direction of where he wanted to go in his life. A good investment“
From Claire, whose son Ben spent ten weeks in South East Asia.
“We encouraged our son to take a gap year so he could hit the “pause button” and redirect his learning through life experiences. Initially, he thought it would be awkward to go in a different direction than all his friends heading to college, but once he set out on his journey, he never looked back nor questioned this decision. Allowing more time “to bake” with a gap year, our son gained an array of life tools and skills which include maturity, independence, perspective, appreciation, ability to overcome challenges, knowledge,confidence, and happiness.“
From Sarah a parent whose son spent his gap year in New Zealand followed by employment in Colorado.
“We planted the gap year idea in our son’s head during his sophomore year of high school; so by the time he was a senior, it seemed like a reasonable idea to him. The combined experiences overseas taught him to become comfortable living on his own away from home as well as to become independent in time management and budgeting. In his freshman year at college, he is much more mature in managing his life than I think he would have been without his experiences in England and South America.”
From Kathi a parent whose son combined working in England and South America over the course of his gap year.