Since the pandemic’s educational path, more and more young people have opened up their minds until they have occupied the gap between high school and college.
Leave aside felt natural after Evan Collins's whole life homeschooling. The 19-year-old from Boxford, Massachusetts said he “was just researching different educational methods.”
“I don't want to rush to go to college, partly because I don't know what I want to do,” he told the Post.
“People realize you don't have to rush. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, 'I wish my age did it when you were.'”
Evan Collins spent a year exploring career options and eliminating different industries. Courtesy of Evan Collins
Collins graduated in 2024 and at the end of his gap year, he organized the gap with the help of the interim planning center. After spending some time in immersive cultural exchanges in Chile’s Patagonia region, he traveled to the co-manager of the Football Academy in Cape Town, South Africa.
“I want to intern in the preferred field of hope and if I can at least eliminate what I don’t want to do, I would think it was a success,” he said.
“I don’t want to spend a lot of money on education that I don’t want to use in the end.”
This experience confirms that he does want to enter the sports industry and that he learns that his passion lies in management. In September, he will begin studying sports management at Crestpoint University.
Collins traveled to Chile and South Africa during his gap years. Courtesy of Evan Collins
Looking back, Collins said that rest time is more than school growth.
“It pushed me to a place where I was uncomfortable and I just had to deal with it. “He said. I feel that this exposure is very limited in our daily life in the American school system, and we live a very regular life.
“I think it's actually crazy, I've been growing for eight months. I've probably grown more than I've been in high school.”
He would recommend the gap year to anyone, despite a small warning: “You have to go into a clear plan for the year. You don't want to say, 'I'm going to take a year and then sit on the couch and play video games.'”
Collins said he grew more in the year of gap than his entire high school experience. Courtesy of Evan Collins
Collins is part of a small but growing group of young people who choose to take a break before getting a higher education.
There are limited national data on how many kids there are in the gap age, but according to the Gap Year Association, the percentage during the pandemic soared from 1.8% to 4.9% and rose to 2.6% by graduating classes in 2023.
Christopher Rim, Boutique College Admissions Consultant and Chief Executive Officer of Command Education, told The Post, “The gap year has certainly become increasingly popular among students since the pandemic.”
Christopher Rim noted that the gap had exploded in his practice for several years.
He estimates that one in four of his clients have chosen some form of gap year, noting: “Even students who work with us during the college admissions process ask us to support our program’s customized gap year experience.”
RIM said some top institutions, including Princeton, Tufts and the University of North Carolina, explicitly encourage students to get through the gap for a year: “Not only are students in the real world attracting the gap for top universities from a gap year apart, but it’s also very worth it for employers.”
Hudson Juenger, who is only 17 years old, is about to end his gap by the year he is about to return to school in September.
Princeton is one of several elite universities that explicitly encourage gap years. shutter
Richmond, Rhode Island native decided to occupy a year's gap in his senior year in September to decide whether to enter the workforce or college after an apprentice working at the dock during his senior year.
“I've applied to a bunch of colleges, but I'm accepted, but I'm not enthusiastic,” he explained. “I'm really not sure if I want to go to college or go to the workforce permanently and didn't make a decision until April.”
His family accepted his choice but said he often got condescending comments from his peers: “I did a great job in high school, I could have gone to college, but a lot of people would be frustrated, like, ‘Oh, that’s good for you. I’m glad you found something that works for you.
Hudson Juenger spent a year deciding whether to go directly to the workforce or to pursue higher education. Courtesy of Hudson Juenger
During his leave, he worked as another apprentice at the dock and worked full-time as a mechanic. He also completed the IYRS Institute of Technology and Industry's Marine Systems Program.
“I’ve been looking to determine if I want to pursue a career as a mechanic permanently and what kind of financial opportunities there are in the industry,” Juenger said. “Before I went to college, I wanted to be confident that I knew what I wanted to learn. It was a big deal to spend four years on money.”
After several months of deliberation and on-the-job experience, Juenger decided to study mechanical engineering at the University of Rhode Island as the right move: “Now, entering mechanical engineering, I feel very confident in my professional work experience.”
Juenge said the vacation gave him a more pragmatic and adult worldview. Courtesy of Hudson Juenger
He also believes that after the vacation, he has a more pragmatic view of the world.
“I actually know that going to work every day and living in a more realistic work environment is what it feels like than going straight to college, which is a disguise for four years because it seems like, fun, fun, fun, fun, endless party where you can have a buffet,” Juenger said. “I think I appreciate my college experience more than many other friends.”
Kaylyn Klumper, 19, used her gap year and is now over to figure out the professional path she wants to pursue. When she applied for college in her senior year, she chose a year gap, which left her only two people in her class following the route.
Kaylyn Klumper works in three different jobs during the year of gap. Courtesy of Kaylyn Klumper
“My friends were posting photos of them having fun in college and I was honestly frustrated by it, but in the end I was happy with the fact, it didn’t matter, I went on my own path and honestly it all worked out.”
Because she wanted to get into the medical field, Klumper thought it was important to have some real-life experience when jumping straight into premedicine, so she worked as a health assistant for chiropractics, while working as a gardener and McDonald's.
“Balanced all of this in the year made me realize that if I never came back to school, I had to continue doing three jobs like this to sustain myself,” she said.
Over the course of the year, Klumper got the answer she was looking for: an admission letter from Fanshawe College, Clarity, who didn't want to be a physical therapist like she initially thought she was and realized that nursing would be more appropriate.
Klumper said that when friends were all in college, her gap was isolated at first. Courtesy of Kaylyn Klumper
“If you’re not sure what you want to do, then spending a few years is a clever move for this younger generation to go to school,” she said. “My confidence has really grown over the past year, which is very important for the first year of leaving family and friends.”
Since graduation, she noticed that the gap year is more popular in the classes below her high school: “When I graduated, it wasn't common, but a lot of younger age groups are doing it now. I just had a friend come to me and ask if I'm going to attend one and I told her that I should definitely enjoy it for a year.”
Alex Weldon said his gap year was key to his success in college and improved his mental health after lockdown ruined his senior year.
Alex Weldon traveled to South Africa in the second gap in the first two years of college. Courtesy of Alex Weldon
“I graduated during Covid and it wasn't a good headspace, stuck at home and landed in a dump,” Weldon, 21, of Brandon, Mississippi, told the Post. “So I decided to get a job and go to college and then go to college.”
After graduating in 2021, Weldon worked on food for a year but found two shifts and a monotonous routine. So he took a second off on the Warriors Adventure Academy in South Africa (more adventurous), hiking, mountain climbing and rafting.
“The whole experience told me I was capable,” he said. “I realized that high school was just hard because I didn't apply for myself. Now, I have a new passion for learning and improving myself.”
Weldon's father said his years have greatly matured. Courtesy of Alex Weldon
Mississippi State University’s rising sophomore said his “head space has improved”, and he “barely passed” from high school to first-year college.
Weldon is studying biological sciences and considering pursuing veterinary or medical school, and he owe him newfound academic achievement, which is his break: “There is a straightforward high school student going to college and succumbing to college because they are not used to all the freedom I experienced in a year of gap.”
His father, Patrick Weldon, a neurologist, said he watched his son blossom during his vacation.
“As his father, I can prove that this has a lot of good for him,” he told the Post. “He came home and was a brand new man. He learned that you could actually not have a cell phone. He came back healthy, happy, and with a new level of wisdom, usually not seen in a 20-year-old.”