Pursuit of Education by Mario

Pursuit of Education by Mario - August 2019 Scholarship Essay

Graduation can be an exciting time for students with set plans on attending graduate school or those with internships or jobs already lined up. There are those, however, who opt to take a gap year. Though there is often a negative perception of a gap year and those who choose to take one, they can actually be incredibly beneficial in helping someone find the next right move to make for themselves and their future.

As someone who took something closer to a gap year and a half, I can attest to all the good some time away from school can have on a recent graduate. Gap years allow students to take some time to catch their breath and pursue other hobbies. They are a good time to spend researching internships, job opportunities, graduate programs, and other potential service opportunities like Teach For America, Peace Corps, or even military service. While these are all things students can look into while they are enrolled in an undergraduate program, there are often other factors that chip away at the free time necessary to really look into what is a good fit. This includes browsing websites and forums like Reddit and having conversations with people who have participated in similar programs.

Gap years also allow for people to pursue other passions. In my case, upon graduating with my English degree, I took some time away to work and save money while also devoting more time to my screenwriting and filmmaking. The fact is, being a full-time student with 12-15 credits, holding a job of any kind, and the other basic demands of life such as sleep, commuting, and spending time with loved ones can take away from any time that would allow a person to work on their artistic craft. My gap year allowed me to work on those interests and reach a place where I am comfortable with my skills. This is true of other recent graduates who take time to work on themselves and follow their own passions.

As noted earlier, gap years can also allow for students to take up internships to feel out a position in a field of their interest. I began an internship in my final year of undergrad and continued on with it after graduation during my gap year. During that time, I directed two iterations of a student film festival on my university’s campus and attended several other film festivals and related workshops across Miami. I was able to network and meet dozens of people also driven by their love for film and filmmaking and some of those people actually ended up leading workshops for my own student film festival at Florida International University.

Really, a gap year is what a person makes of it. It can be spent sitting around running in circles or it can be spent bettering oneself and pursuing longtime passions. Whether it is refining your knowledge of different subjects or areas of interest, time away from school should never mean that one stops learning. The constant pursuit of education keeps a person on top of their game and sharp, and that is what a gap year should be about.