Freshman Year for the Bold
Written by George Anders Nicholas Montano has been operating farm machinery in Senegal, turning dried corn into couscous. Noa Bridson has been helping Ecuadorian villagers promote their alpaca refuge as a new tourist destination. Amari Leigh has been selling lettuce and beets at a farmers’ market in southern Brazil. All three of these […]
Young Americans: This is your chance to make history
By Abby Falik College can wait. In fact, it should. Dear High School Seniors, As you approach your next steps after high school, consider this: college can wait. In fact, it should. Let’s be real. At age 18, should you already know what ideas ignite your soul? Which burning questions will drive […]
Readers Tell Us: Is a Gap Year Worth It?
Written by SONA PATEL Exploring new paths, figuring out a field of study to pursue in college or simply taking a break are just a few reasons high school graduates are taking gap years. We asked readers who have taken a year off from their education what they learned and what tips they have for […]
If It’s March, It Must Be Morocco: Why The Prefab Gap Year Fails Our Students
Written by Sarah Madsen Hardy and Marisa Milanese College acceptance letters have hit inboxes, and another crop of all-above-average kids has eagerly grabbed the brass ring. But if you meet them a few months down the line, as we will in our first-year writing classes next September, it’ll be clear that some of them aren’t […]
Dear Malia Obama, Thank You for Taking a Gap Year Before College
Dear Malia, When you announced your decision last spring to take a “gap year” before attending Harvard University I was impressed and excited. It’s not easy to make a choice that goes directly against the prevailing norm, but you did. The momentum of the K-16 conveyor belt that shuttles kids from high school directly to […]
Preparing Young Leaders
Originally published in The New York Times on 2/1/2017. To the Editor: In “The Politics of Cowardice” (column, Jan. 27), David Brooks addresses high school and college students, and rightly so. Today’s young adults are especially vulnerable to the “mean wind” that’s blowing, but whether we allow them to get swept up in the […]
Abby Falik, Founder and President of Global Citizen year, Joins Denver Frederick
The following is a conversation between Abby Falik, Founder and President of Global Citizen Year, and Denver Frederick, Host of The Business of Giving on AM 970 The Answer in New York City. Denver: Many of us who went to college look back at those years as some of the best days of […]
How Taking a Gap Year Can Shape Your Life
Looking back, adults who took time off before or during college say they have no regrets. By RON LIEBER OCT. 19, 2016 If your teenager is talking about taking a year away from the classroom between high school and college, you may have Malia Obama to thank for that. But if they’re not yet talking […]
The ‘gap year’ not just for rich kids anymore
Katie Couric and Yahoo! News released an incredible feature on Global Citizen Year! Check out the video below to see how we are re-imagining the ‘gap year’ as a launch pad for global citizens – and how top colleges are taking notice. By Katie Couric When the White House announced that Malia Obama would be […]
How to take a gap year overseas when you’re not wealthy
Written by Joanna Nesbit My first year in college, I was lonely, lacking direction and supremely worried about money. A first-generation student paying my own way, I had no idea how I would fund year two without subsisting on loans, even in 1982-dollar days. Quite simply, I yearned to travel the world, and three […]
