So, raise your hand if you've ever heard about this concept of a 'Gap Year'? Exactly. You're probably not even raising your hand right now...
The Oxford Dictionary defines it as: a year that a young person spends working and/or traveling, often between leaving school and starting university.
Ok, true. It doesn't have to be a 'young' person, it could be anyone. The fact is that it is uncommon on our lovely North American continent. Its simple: You graduate High School, you take some time off to work, or travel, living large, volunteering, gaining some prospective on this thing we call life. Easy as 1-2-3. Some make it a year, others, a semester. It is truly very common in Europe, namely the UK. Most kids do it, and most colleges look for kids who have done it. Its a matter of maturity. You graduate high school or the equivalent as a hormonal, moody teenager, you leave for the journey of a lifetime, whether its backpacking with friends through Europe, or volunteering in India. You come back a real man. (or woman). Meaning, its simply a maturity-raiser. You spend some time on your own, without the care and guidance of your parents, you are alone--to make the right choices and learn from the wrong ones. Maybe that's what its a matter of? Not working so hard trying to make all the right choices. Maybe it's a matter of simply learning from your mistakes. We can't all be sheltered all of our lives. This is our time to spread our wings and fly. Travel, meet new people, experience the world. Live the life, freeload, mooch, whatever word you have for it. There's always a way, and simply turn off your ears when someone starts rambling on about how its not going to work. More of that in a later post.
As for me, I decided a while back that I would like to take this gap year. Maybe its my aspiring fascination with the european culture and maybe its simply because I'm a european-wanna-be. Who knows? But once I found out that many european kids--errr, young adults--participate, I decided I wanted to too!! And that's what I decided, and that's what I'm stickin' with. First I decided I was going to take a full school year off... and once I broke the news to my fellow american companions, the majority thereof flabbergasted me with their 'yehs' and 'nehs' and their third degrees... you know, try to talk me out of it.. Wanna know why?
Because to americans, "if you’re not a student and you’re unemployed, you’re a loser. You must either be working or be in school or you’re unproductively wasting your life. There’s no two ways about it here. It’s a shame really." (courtesy of vagabondish.com) Well put, there. I wish I could've recorded the reactions I received upon explanation of my plans after high school. Ok, so I work in a supermarket named Giant, as a cashier... and I'm a very friendly, outgoing cashier so when someone goes through my line, 9 times out of 10 I strike up a conversation with them... some of them are former teachers of mine, administrators, and some are just random folks doing their normal shopping routines who have by pure luck been granted the righteous opportunity to go through my line at Giant. They ask whether I'm a student... I say I just graduated high school... "Oh! congratulations! So tell me what you're plans are in the fall!" FIRST allow me to insert that most don't say that... most just go right ahead and ask "Where are you going to college?" What has happened to our community that it is now expected of us to go to college... yes, I understand times've changed, but back in the day not everyone went to college... we had our students and blue collars and white collars and skilled labormen... quite the assortment, and now? Now its expected we go to college....
Yes, so since you obviously can't get by in life without a piece of paper saying you survived 2 or 4 or then some more years of hell sitting in a lecture hall, I've decided to calm everyone's quarrels by just taking a semester off and going back to school when I get back in the Winter. Who knows, maybe something will happen to change my mind... if you don't know me, I'm a pretty flexible guy... you know, the type that 'goes with the flow'.
So in conclusion, my gap year isnt' one of those regulated programs you can find in brochures and on the world wide web, where you pay some allotted fee to have the 'journey of a lifetime', and my gap year isn't one of those volunteering missions in Africa... but it is still my gap year and I will make of it what I will. I leave that up to destiny. I don't have much savings at all, all I have is a one-way ticket to Germany (flying out of Toronto, nonetheless), and my dignity and self-ability to have what I want if it's not too much to ask for. I'm up for any kind of adventure, whether its attempting to get kicked out of the local walmart (that's where the teenager comes in verses the matured young adult, but hey, its fun being young again sometimes, I presume, 'eh?) or having the journey of a lifetime meeting all sorts of new, culturally adapted people, while enjoying the local scene and just having a good 'ole time with no regrets.
The keyword in this post, my friends, is no regrets.
Hey Gang, welcome to the first post... here I will be able to update y'all on my journeys. Journey number one: Eurotrip 2008. After some long struggles, I managed to finally purchase a one-way ticket to Germany. How much? $238. yea. cheap! Especially considering that roundtrips are goin for around $1000 right now, and normally one-ways are more expensive... So what's the catch? I fly out of Toronto! A 7-hour drive away from my hometown! Or just a simple $100 amtrak train trip and a hop, skip, jump away... But I think it's worth it if I can save that much money. So August 19th, YYZ (Toronto) to MUC (München). Next topic: Money. err or lack there of. Meaning I dont' have much money for this journey of mine... but that's--or atleast I think--part of the whole fun here. Tramping. Freeloading. Living Large. That's what I call it, but unfortunately some folk's don't agree so much with that. But if you want something bad enough, you will get it. So I'm off now, and I'll keep you guys on the Up and Up! Peace.
