getting started is the hardest part

Let’s call this our ‘official inaugural post’ on this brand-new website, which grew out of the idea that a gap year before college is a an increasingly practical and rather good plan. I’ve been considering the many different parts of this project for a long time, and for whatever reason, now became the time to finally get started.

There are so many reasons that a gap year between high school and college makes sense. Of course, this isn’t true for every student; maybe it’s true for just a small percentage of grads. That’s ok. However, I’ve seen first-hand the benefits of a gap year. It was a year spent with a self-determined schedule of community college classes and work. A year when adulthood arrived in its own good time, with a less-structured period of slow decompression from the stress of senior year and enough space for thoughtful planning for college. When my oldest daughter went to college, she was READY.

Like many parents, I’ve been thinking about college and planning for it since before my kids started preschool. It could be said that I’m highly invested in what my kids do beyond high school. But I also know that their ultimate happiness depends a great deal on knowing that they’ve made their own choices and had the freedom to follow their own paths. At this point, a path that includes a gap year is absolutely fine, even encouraged, by me.

For some students, deciding to pursue a gap year may be a difficult step in the journey to adulthood, particularly if there are expectations that they’ll go to college right away. Heading in a different direction may be very hard. And finding ways to spend the time productively may be hard too. That’s where we come in. We want to help anyone who’s thinking about a gap year to take the first steps. We want to provide the inspiration and resources for success, because getting started really is the hardest part.