Dear High School Juniors and Seniors,
The one thing you have probably already heard and will continue to hear until you graduate is this: “Your senior year will be the fastest year of your life!” It’s true. For the 17 or 18 years that you have been alive, it will be the fastest year yet. So, the question is… what next? Your senior year is a really special year, but it shouldn’t be the best year of your life… you have so much life left to live!!
With nonstop talks of ACT/SAT scores, GPA, and college applications, you probably feel overwhelmed feeling that these things hold a heavy weight on your future. Yes, these are all super important things that you should put your best effort into, but don’t let them steal the joy of stepping into a new and exciting time in your life. I saw so many of my friends spend their senior years completely stressed and anxious about every aspect of their lives. I encourage you to give these tests and applications your all but know that the Lord will hold you in His hands and guide you as you decide on what to do after that.
I strongly encourage you to look into taking a gap year. Honestly, I had no idea what a gap year was until November of my junior year. Since being in elementary school my expectation for my future was high school-college-job and adult life stuff. I never thought about there being something in between high school and college. A gap year doesn’t have to be a nine month mission trip around the world or a time where you go and do something extravagant/“insta-worthy”. You could take the year and stay home. A gap year also doesn’t mean taking a year to do whatever you want… especially not doing anything. I’d say the purpose of my gap year has been to pursue the Lord and learn more about myself and others along the way. I happen to be doing this thing called The World Race Gap Year. The Race is not changing my life. The Race often gets glamorized as being this amazing thing where miracles are happening but in reality, it is just a wonderful platform where the LORD is working miracles and changing lives.
Once I was committed to going on the Race, explaining myself became a little uncomfortable. It was exciting to get to tell people about where the Lord was leading me, but not everybody understood or could relate to how I was feeling. All of my friends were going to top ranked schools in America like Yale, MIT, and Northwestern when I wasn’t even going to college at all. It was difficult not letting the stereotypes of gap years skew my thought of how others were viewing my decision. Graduation was great, summer was fun, but then August rolled around. August was somewhat of a hard month since my friends were packing their dorm décor and leaving home. Some jealousy and doubt crept in as people were getting into their new and exciting season with new people.
It’s scary and uncomfortable to do something uncommon or less popular. Be prepared for the discomfort of being asked where you are going to college and then getting unexcited responses followed by the question of “do you know where you are going to college after your gap year?” Tearing down expectations is hard. I was tested in this time with being still and abiding. Then September rolled around, and it was time to officially start my gap year.
What I’ve found about my gap year experience so far is that without it I would not feel as prepared for the next season of life. For me, the next season is college, but I already recognize how much I’ve learned that will be so beneficial. I’ve learned more about independence, how to grow and what it looks like to have confidence with humility. Gap years are encouraged and so common all around the world except America. I met one girl named Sophie in Nepal who was from Belgium on a gap year. She was so passionate about the benefits of gap years and explained how common they were in Europe. She said she doesn’t know why it’s not more common in the States!
I’m still nervous for what comes after this year and all the things concerning college. I will not have my life perfectly put together by the end of this, but I can confidently say that this gap year has been the best decision that I have made. There is no way that I would have grown or learned this much if I were not doing this right now. So, juniors and seniors in high school, I would so encourage you to look into your options. I would be more than willing to answer any questions or talk to you about more thoughts on this subject (or talk to your parents!) I have talked to multiple parents that talked about not taking their children seriously when they brought up the idea of a gap year.
I hope you are loving every second of high school right now and are enjoying the stage of life that you’re at! School and life can be hard at this point, but you can do it!! The Lord is good and will hold you through it all.
Your Friend,
Sarah
