Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories examining the gap year, based on the research of recent Philadelphia University graduate Veronica Moul.
It is typical for college students in their senior year to suddenly become concerned with finding a job after graduating. After all, that is the point of going to college. I am one of those college students who did not really consider what to do after graduating from Philadelphia University until my final months in school. However, aware of my resources, I became very close to the Career Services available to me. I dedicated time once a week to go to career counseling and openly discuss what I was looking for and who I am. One day, I realized what I wanted and told my counselor “I want something in between college and work” to which she replied “gap year.”
I heard the term gap year before, but associated it with high school graduates in the UK. In fact, there is very little research and information about gap years for people after college in the U.S. I wanted to know more about what I could do with a gap year, and I was also looking for a topic for my senior capstone project. I decided to create a blog to help redefine the concept of gap years by targeting U.S. college graduates.
The new definition I’d like to create for the gap year goes something like this: