Students Take Gap Year for Global Adventures
As the end of Las Lomas’s second semester approaches, our senior class will soon be graduating. Most of our graduating class will be headed straight to a standard college, with the exception of some who might go through a few years of community college before transferring to a four-year university.
However, there are a few others who are taking a break from school. These people are taking a gap year.
“During my gap year, I’ll attend NOLS, National Outdoor Leader School, which is a program where you take courses that teach wilderness and leadership skills on expeditions and in classrooms. The place where I plan to explore with NOLS hasn’t been established yet, but will take place in the winter time so it will most likely be either in Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, or the Tetons,” said senior Grant Johnson. “I’m excited to do something different, it’ll be nice to not be in a classroom with books, but instead the outdoors and doing what I enjoy.”
Very much like Johnson, senior Jas Ebie is excited to take a semester off and finally do something she enjoys, traveling and helping people.
“I’m going to Uganda with my friend Dani Fidelibous through an organization called Empower A Child. It will be a very humbling experience,” said Ebie.” We’re going to work with children and getting a new life experience... It takes things into a new perspective and I can take a step back and just be grateful for what I do have.”
Similarly to Ebie’s program, senior Meghan Pletsch will devote a semester in Loas.
“I’m going to be teaching English to students ages 5-18 and doing sustainable farming projects in my free time,” said Pletsch. Her work is, however, in Laos, a third-world country located in in Asia a completely different part of the world.
“Throughout high school, I had the opportunity to travel to two different countries. This traveling really changed the expectations I had for my future. I realized that I really love to explore new places and emerge myself in different cultures,” said Pletch, “and I think that’s the biggest inspiration for why I’m choosing to move to Laos.”
Her work will also help her immensely with what she would like to study in the future. “I’m also considering teaching Environmental Science as a future career path, so I thought the teaching program would be a perfect opportunity to see if it’s what I really want to do. Also, I’m really into sustainable and organic farming practices so the fact that I get to do that on the side is like a dream come true.”
It’s clear participating in different programs like these will not only let you expand and explore your interests, but also pave path for your future career.
Senior Ryan McAteer will be spending a year in London, studying abroad while researching and exploring a different lifestyle.
“I am going to be studying in England through NYU London. My dorms are in the city center so I am just a walk away from the London eye, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and London Bridge. I will just be studying the core material, but it will be in an amazing different scenery,” said McAteer. “I used to live in England, so I was torn on whether to stay in the US for university or go back to England. This program is a good compromise as I study in both the U.K. and in the US.”
“I will say that it will definitely give me a greater perspective on the world and more insight to what I want to pursue as a career in the future. I already know what I want to study, but I would totally encourage people who are confused about their academics to take a gap year because it gives you more time to figure it out,” said Pletsch.
Ebie agrees with her. “I thought about going to a community college up in Oregon but then I got strayed from that,” said Ebie. “I didn’t necessarily wanted to go to college right away. I just want to be able to give back to people who have less than us.”
