A Gap Year Changes Lives

These testimonials just came in this week. When the Gap Year becomes a cultural norm in the U.S., we'll be a much more compassionate and respectful culture.

"As an adult who spent her junior year in high school as a Rotary International exchange student in Belgium, I can personally attest to the power of foreign travel in transforming young people's lives. After that year in Europe I was hooked and eager to find out what the rest of the world looked, smelled, tasted and felt like. Now, I can't imagine working in a field that only allowed me one or two weeks of vacation a year. I'm still working as an English teacher and it looks like my next post might be in Oman, in the Gulf! I'm very excited about what you are doing with the Gap year project, and just wanted to let you know that I support it wholeheartedly. I will most likely be blogging about my experience in Oman or wherever I end up, and would love to share some of my experience via the LGG website. Take care!"

"Hi Rita, I just read your post about writing about our experiences in a gap year. I didn't complete a gap year per say, but I traveled through Europe for three weeks after high school. That gave me the travel bug. Then I studied abroad for the summer on two different occasions in college. I worked for a year and just came back from a month in Africa. I would be glad to tell students about these trips. I'm a teacher and my fifth grade students love seeing pictures outside of our little town. Where should I post something like this? Thanks for sharing this movement. Not enough people are interested in the world around us!"

"I am the parent of a daughter who has just completed a year in Ecuador with World Teach and who will leaving in less than two weeks for a second year in Bangladesh. After graduate school, I spent nearly three years living and teaching in Venezuela. The experience was life altering and I encouraged both my children to live outside the US during or after their formal education. My children have learned respect, patience, flexibility, perspective, humor, openness, relationship building, observation, and how to open their hearts to other other cultures. I welcome the opportunity to encourage other young people and their families to have the courage and curiosity to live a life of discovery and fulfillment."

We're a movement and we need everyone who cares to spread the word!