Gap year can fill need for some students

THE RIGHT DECISION: Margarita Gonzalez is an AmeriCorps student teaching at Gilbert Stuart Middle School. Her experience has made her want to choose a career in teaching. / PBN PHOTO/FRANK MULLIN
THE RIGHT DECISION: Margarita Gonzalez is an AmeriCorps student teaching at Gilbert Stuart Middle School. Her experience has made her want to choose a career in teaching. / PBN PHOTO/FRANK MULLIN

After Margarita Gonzalez graduated from Paul Cuffee Upper School in Providence in 2014, she enrolled in The University of Rhode Island. It didn’t take long, however, for her to realize she was uncertain about what she wanted to do with her life, so she dropped out and decided to take a so-called gap year.

“I wish I had done it sooner. It has so many benefits and helps more than it harms because when you graduate high school you’re still not mature yet,” she said. “You’re still not sure about the world and what’s out there, and you’re selfish in a lot of ways.”

A gap year is typically an academic year taken off between high school and college. Young adults often try to travel or gain some work experience. Gonzalez, who felt like she lacked direction but had some interest in teaching, applied and was accepted into City Year Providence, an AmeriCorps program that connects young adults with public school systems in communities throughout the United States.

She’s now wrapping up her first year of service, having tutored and mentored sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at Gilbert Stuart Middle School in Providence for the past year. And the experience has sparked a newfound passion for education. Already taking night classes, Gonzalez plans to enroll full time at the Community College of Rhode Island this fall with the goal to join a four-year program next spring. She wants to be a teacher and has aspirations in the future to teach in a Spanish-speaking country.

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“For a high schooler to come out and get into City Year – it opens so many doors,” she said. “It provides knowledge that I don’t think a college can teach you and to get that experience, everything becomes clearer; you learn a lot about yourself.”

Taking a gap year off before or during college has been practiced for decades in Australia and some pockets of Europe.

Until about 10 years ago young adults in the U.S. typically followed a predictable progression after graduating high school, by entering college, technical schools or the workforce. But that has begun to change, according to James S. Miller, outgoing dean of admission at Brown University.

“I think schools encourage and value gap years for students and we certainly do,” he said.

Miller says he expects 40-60 incoming students will take a year off, and the university guarantees their positions in the following year, which is common throughout academia. Miller, who graduated from Brown in 1973, has worked in admissions for decades and recognizes high value in taking a year off, saying that if it were up to him, he would require every freshmen class to take a year off.

“The process of applying to college is pretty intense and I think students feel a lot of pressure,” he said. “I think it’s hard to get perspective and to get a chance to pick your head up and look around, and I think a gap year allows you to do that.”

Gap-year advocates received a boost in May when Malia Obama, President Barack Obama’s eldest daughter, announced she would attend Harvard University in 2017 after taking a gap year off.

Proponents point to the Obamas decision to allow Malia to take the year off as helping to prove the model. But critics argue that the yearlong hiatus jeopardizes continuity in education and could throw students off track, with a negative impact in the long term. They also point to the high cost associated with taking a year off, which by some estimates totals about $35,000, according to The New York Times, saying gap years are only for the affluent.

But educators, such as Miller, largely disagree. Organizations such as City Year, albeit competitive, offer young adults a little- to no-cost alternative, as the nonprofit pays its AmeriCorps members a stipend and pays toward health care costs. The service, with an acceptance rate of 43 percent both in Providence and nationally, makes participants eligible for a $5,730 educational award that can go toward future or past educational costs incurred, which doubles if individuals work for a two-year period.

“It’s important to make this type of experience possible for any young person,” said Nora Crowley, impact director at City Year Providence.

Other local organizations, including the Providence Children’s Museum and the Southside Community Land Trust, work with young adults who are looking for work experience before or during college.

Gonzalez recommends all high schoolers consider taking time off and points to her own experience as proof about how it can change a life.

“When I was younger I thought teaching would be fun, but people gave it such a bad reputation because it’s underpaid and underappreciated,” she said. “But this year has shown me there’s so much appreciation for teachers. Doing this year has helped to clear my mind.” •

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