#013 The Many Advantages of a Gap Year

If you’ve always subscribed to the rule that students can’t take a year off after high school or they’ll lose interest in college, you might change your mind after listening to this episode. Gap year expert, Holly Bull who is president of The Center for Interim Programs, explains what she calls “Gap Time” and outlines a variety of times and lengths your student may want to consider using an interim program. 

You’ll learn how gap time can lead to more mature, rested, and focused students any time, but how it can be especially helpful during Covid. The statistics she shares on how gap time impacts student success in college and what you as a parent pay for college may just leave you considering this option for your student. 

Beyond the benefits of taking gap time, Holly provides numerous examples of different programs at home and abroad. Her examples will help you and your student come up with not only ideas for how gap time can be spent, but also ways to curate extracurricular experiences for your student that will develop self-awareness so they can make informed future decisions. Holly’s own experience over 30 years ago eliminated a possible career path for her before she started college. 

Lisa’s weekly challenge will show you how to lean into Holly’s wisdom as a resource to better position your student whether they take a gap year or not. 

Highlights

  • Why it should be called Gap Time instead of a Gap Year
  • How interim programs create more successful college students who graduate earlier than their peers
  • Ideas for planning your own curated programs from a few hours to a year
  • Successfully using Gap Time to cultivate maturity and gain career clarity

Listen on…the Flourish Site, Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon Music, Stitcher, or your favorite platform. 

“College & Career Clarity with Lisa is so helpful!”  ← Is that you? If so, please consider rating and reviewing my show so I can resource more families and eliminate overwhelm. Thank you!!

Links mentioned in this episode

Launch College & Career Clarity Course

Launch College and Career Clarity Facebook Community

Center for Interim Programs

Instagram for Center for Interim Programs

Access the episode transcript here.