The Balance Of Opportunity Within A Gap Year by Jessica

The Balance Of Opportunity Within A Gap Year by Jessica - August 2019 Scholarship Essay

As the Fall quarter approaches, I sit and wonder how things currently in my life would have been different if I decided to take a gap year. I don’t regret my decision to enroll right after high school, but there is so much that I feel I lack as I go into a university where most of the students come from advantaged high schools. And, because I’m going to be far from home, the emotional adjustment that my family and I have to make has made things slightly more difficult. As I continue to sit here, I ask myself, “If I would have taken a gap year, would I have been more prepared to leave?” The answer to the question isn’t here yet, as I haven’t actually begun my Fall quarter, but I do have an idea of what I felt would’ve made my gap year meaningful if I had decided to take that path.
For starters, my gap year would’ve been spent saving money as much as possible, so I’d do an entry-level paid internship that’s related to my major: biology. This is a great way for me to gain necessary skills in my field without actually having to attend classes, as well as gain some sense of financial stability before entering as a freshman. This is also a great way to be productive while doing something that I’m interested in.
While productivity is important to me, I want my gap year to be as memorable as possible before I finalize such an important transition in my life. This is where new time management skills kick in! Practicing good time management skills would allow me to enjoy any spare timer. The most important component of this fun—and probably the entirety of my gap year—would be to spending as much time with friends and family as possible. The emotional transition of me leaving has probably been the toughest. This would be the time I travel to a few local places with them to get a feel for new environments and see different sights. I’d also help tutor my siblings, since they’d still be going to school.
Relaxation, comfort, money saved, and not a single thing to stress about—it’s what makes a gap year desirable for many. Everyone’s reasoning for a gap year is different ranging between simply needing a break and having an emergency that requires an absolute hold on everything. For me, I would want a gap year that is about comfort and relaxation but with the addition of productivity. There’s a lot to this transition I’m making that makes it bittersweet, so it’s interesting to take a step back and think about how things may have been different if I would have gone that route.