Advice for Parents from Gap Year Parents by Julia Rogers As a GYA-Accredited Gap Year Consultant, I work closely with students to design meaningful plans for their year out. Whether a consultant is involved or not, parents play a pivotal role in their child’s gap year. They can help set reasonable boundaries, provide encouragement, and offer support during this transformative rite of passage. I always remind parents that a gap year is also a milestone in their lives – watching your child fledge is full of its own set of emotions. In many ways, gap year parents are asked to…
Communication
REFLECTIVE AND ETHICAL LENSES FOR GAP YEAR PHOTOGRAPHY & STORYTELLING by Elizabeth Bezark Photography and storytelling provide meaningful ways to unpack and share what you’ve learned and how you’ve grown through your gap year experience. Now, the questions are: How are you expressing this? What do your images and captions convey about the places you’ve visited and your experiences there? Read on for GYA’s tips for making your digital documentation intentional, ethical, and reflective! Personal & Relational: One of many things that makes a gap year so meaningful is the people you’ll meet on your journey. As you post…
How to Stay In Touch With Friends & Family On Your Gap Year by Megan Lee The thought of being away from home is one of the hardest challenges to surmount prior to a gap year – and that’s even before you go! The physical distance between you and home can be a tough pill to swallow while you’re actually abroad. Keeping in touch with loved ones is a surefire means to soften these blows. However, while important, communication can also become unhealthy. It can detract from your presence on your gap year, make you feel unnecessary amounts of FOMO…
Bridging Culture Gaps by Hannah Miller You don’t have to go overseas to experience a different culture – there are a variety of deep and wonderful cultures anywhere. Thus, the most important thing is the way in which you approach any different culture. For instance, traveling from North Carolina to Los Angeles is no doubt going to be a different experience and there’s often little need to go to the other side of the globe to push your comfort zone. That being said, in the words of Holly Bull from the Center for Interim Programs, “Perhaps the most important aspect…
Keeping in Touch With Your Gap Year Friends by Megan Lee Leaving home to Gap Year for a semester or year is fertile ground for making new friends. Together, you trip and stumble and fall and giggle through the language barriers, conquer unexpected challenges, and actively explore your new sense of freedom. You quickly start to question your lifestyle back home, and get to shed your past and start fresh. You meet people from all different walks of life and challenge your conventional norms. Who wouldn’t want to do this hand in hand with a rad person who totally “GETS…
The Importance of Journaling on Your Gap Year by Megan Lee Journaling: kind of like keeping a diary, but with fewer entries revolving around unrequited love or starting with “Sorry for not writing, I’ve been really busy…”. Your journal can be a useful tool on that epic journey towards “adulthood.” While you’re on your Gap Year, it can also be a helpful place for processing, documenting, and occasionally venting, too. Here’s what you need to know about why your packing list should include a journal and a fancy pen (I recommend G2s!): Memories Can’t Be Trusted Memories: while powerful, they…
6 Ways to Keep the Gap Year Spirit Alive by Megan Lee Whether you’re still shaking out the dust from your pack or your passport has been safely stored for a few weeks, it’s never too soon (or too late) to think about ways you can integrate your Gap-Year-self into your life back home. For some, coming back home is the ultimate challenge in “walking the walk” and “talking the talk” – the walk and the talk that you found while on your Gap Year. It makes no sense to have all of these new insights about yourself only to…
How to Support Your Traveling Student From Home by Megan Lee Well done! Despite feeling nerves like never before and wanting nothing more than to squeeze your kid tight and never let go, you’ve managed to support your child as they’ve gone through the (admittedly-more-arduous-than-you-anticipated) process of preparing for a Gap Year. But now they’ve taken off from JFK/SFO/ATL, and are en-route to the learning experience of a lifetime. So, now what? Even though you’re thousands of miles away, you, as a parent, will still play a critical role in the success of your child’s Gap Year. As per usual,…
Letting Your Child Take a Gap Year: Overcoming Fears for Parents by Megan Lee Letting Kids Go is Hard Especially when they’re off to do things that we have not done ourselves.If you took a gap year when you were young, then it’s likely that you able to see this adventure from your child’s perspective (maybe better than they are!) Even so, you have worries, it’s natural. If you haven’t traveled, then those fears will be magnified and the unknown will seem scarier than it really is. The best thing you can do in the face of your fears is…
Prompts to Find Your Passions Before your Gap Year by GYA Admin Let me open with a question: What are you passionate about? Don’t rush on to the next sentence to find out what I’m going to say about that. Stop. Think. Give your mind and your heart a few minutes to whisper in the corner about that. What are you passionate about? Our passions are the things that drive us (or should!) They are the things that we are most interested in. The things that we feel most strongly about. The causes that we feel compelled to support. Too…