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Gap Year
Gap Year
Gap Year
B3 Streisel
17 September 2019
Gap Year
WC: 775
Kiki Koniaris, a freshman at the University of Chicago and year 2018 graduate of CHS,
recently started her first day of college following a gap year between high school and college.
According to Koniaris, during her gap year she participated as an Americorp for Habitat for
Humanity Philadelphia.
construction site, helping build houses, repair homes, work in the rehab department, I was
According to Gap Year Association, there were between 30,000 and 40,000 students who
were taking off a semester or more in between before college in 2017. According to Melinda
Stephan, College and Career Programming and Resources (CCPR) Coordinator, the vast
majority of CHS students don’t plan on taking a gap year before college. Stephan believes that a
gap year is an idea that’s catching on and that more and more people are choosing to take one.
Stephan says many benefits can come out of taking a gap year before college.
“The biggest benefits are these ideas of personal growth and maturity and a stronger
sense of both self and purpose. One reason [of taking a gap year] may be that opportunity to get
that clarity about what you want to pursue in your education and ultimately your career,”
Stephan said.
According to Koniaris, after her 11 months of service she had worked on roughly 20
Koniaris said taking a gap year had an overall positive impact on her life.
Koniaris said, “I lived on my own for a year and I learned how to take care of myself and
behave like an adult. I learned a lot of new things that gave me a lot of perspective on the value
of education and I guess it generally made me more open to try new things and experimenting
However, while Koniaris’s experiences was positive, many challenges can arise from
Stephan said, “You get out of the practice of being a student. If you take a gap year and
you’re not studying, going to classes, reading and you’re away from that for a year, coming back
to that could be a challenge to some students in terms of motivation and honing those skills
again.”
For Koniaris, she said adjusting has been the biggest challenge when it comes to
Koniaris said, “It has been weird adjusting to not living on my own and having a vaguely
9 to 5 work schedule, so it’s kind of strange coming back into an environment where not only
you have classes where you have to attend but you also have to do a lot of work outside of your
Stephan said there are a lot of more enriching opportunities for students who are taking a
gap year before college when compared to high school such as travelling, internships, jobs and
service projects. Stephan said some specific, selective colleges are even encouraging gap years
now.
“They know that students will come back different people and even more ready to be
Stephan said there are resources available to students who are thinking about taking a gap
year. They have programs available on the counseling Canvas page as well as counselors who
are willing to meet with students to discuss the possibility of taking a gap year with them.
Overall, Stephan said, students who are uncertain with their college plans and want to go
“It’s not always good to go to college just to go to college. If you’re not motivated, you
For Koniaris, the problem wasn’t not knowing what to do for college, but rather just
Koniaris said, “I wanted to take a year off because I was feeling burnt out of school. I
love learning and I love education but high school took a very strong emotional toll on me and I
wanted to go and try something completely new and different and kind of revitalize my love of
“I highly recommend that everyone take a gap year and do something meaningful,
especially if it’s good for the world,” she added. “I think it gave me a lot of perspective and it