Making a college decision at only eighteen years old is hard — even harder if you don’t know what you want to do yet (and if you do, chances are it will change). An option that people don’t always consider is taking bridge years — also known as gap years — where you can spend a semester or a full year abroad growing and learning. Thinking it’s not for you? Or, maybe it’s too expensive? Don’t tune me out just yet; there are a variety of programs and many of them are becoming more and more viable every year. Here are 20 signs a bridge year might just be for you!
You’ve just spent thirteen years of your life in a classroom where you were probably talked at, not talked to. Let’s be real, sitting in those desks staring at the clock has not made you any smarter.
Those four years of Spanish class have done nothing for you — the real way to learn a language is to be immersed in it. Want to become fluent in a new language… or three? Go abroad.
Sick of feeling guilty that you eat out 5-days a week? Or maybe that when you don’t eat out, you’re eating cereal for every meal? Being in a new culture means being introduced to new foods, and if you’re in a program where you live with a host family, you will very likely have some great cooking-sessions with your mom!
It’s likely that if you go to a developing country, you won’t have wifi available to you all the time. Without that (and the price of international cell service), you’re forced to truly live in the moment and forget about all the drama on your feed, something you’ll really learn to appreciate.
Bridge years push you, that is not a lie. But they are meant to push you into a stretch zone where you grow as a person and come out much more confident and brave than you were before.
Okay — maybe not want a new family entirely, but having a second family that you can love and cherish (and they will do that right back) is a beautiful thing. You can find your new home in a place you never even knew existed.
Life can get pretty repetitive and boring sometimes. Humans need excitement and change in their lives. Maybe you’ll see one of the World Wonders. Maybe you’ll climb a mountain. You never know.
Living in the States can often leave us winded and feeling behind no matter what we do. A difference in many cultures is that they create times for themselves. Every heard of siestas in Spain? It’s a nap time that they stand by every day! If you are living abroad, you will have a lot of time to breathe and take the time to yourself.
Ever feel like you can’t engage in those “adult” conversations you’re supposed to be apart of? Maybe you don’t know any foreign politics or understand why other cultures are the way they are. Well, taking a year abroad would change all that. You have to learn about your new home; so all this new information comes with the territory.
So long to “what’s your major” and “where are you from?” Now, you get to talk about these once in a lifetime experiences. You’ll definitely get a crowd around you.
To be completely honest, those two-week spring break trips that break your budget and are apparently meant for service mean nothing. Spending an extensive period of time in a new country will allow you to establish relationships with the locals and really help out.
When you meet people from all over the world when you’re abroad, you only keep in touch if you really care about them. Those are the most important friendships. (Plus! You get the bonus of having someone to stay with when you go out and travel again!)
When you have the ability to help in all these different ways abroad, it is your responsibility to take charge and make it happen. You won’t be sitting in the backseat anymore and you’ll finally get the credit you deserve.
Take a second and think about this: how many of your friends went straight to college without a second thought? That is not by any means a bad thing, but, education just seems to be this conveyor belt that is putting everyone on the same path again and again. Elementary education, secondary education, higher education, job. Nothing new.
You’ve just lived under your parents’ roof with their rules for the past eighteen years. Yes, college gives you freedom, but bridge years provide a different type of freedom: adventure. At what age would you be able to do this next? Your mid-twenties when you are fresh out of college and supposed to be getting a job? What about a significant other? Kids? This is the time.
You will, without a doubt, get questions about your bridge year. If you made the most out of it, you are a much higher ranked applicant because you have skills and experiences no one else has.
There are so many things you’ll have the opportunity to try on a bridge year that you would never be able to try elsewhere. Who knows? You might have a hidden talent that you discover.
It is proven that students who return from bridge years tend to have higher GPAs, they are more involved on the campus, and they drink less. Whatever that means to you, it is extremely important in the long-run.
There’s no way you can frown when you’re seeing things you’ve never seen before. Or when you make a child’s day because you took a picture with them. Your experiences will bring you more joy than you’ve ever experienced.
A bridge year, in every way, will make you a better person than you are today. You will automatically become more passionate and empathetic because of the people you meet. You will develop a plethora of actual useful life skills, and you are putting yourself onto a better path for life
Ultimately, bridge years may not be for everyone. But they are a fantastic consideration and one that should not be ignored. Take the jump and become a Global Citizen.
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