Frequently Asked Questions > Benefits of a Gap Year

Why take a Gap Year?

Over 3,000 colleges and universities, including Harvard, Princeton, and MIT, support the decision for incoming freshmen to take time off. Students taking gap years almost unanimously agree that their experiences during that year re-energized and re-focused them, allowing them to truly take advantage of their time at university. What are some of the benefits of a gap year?

Become a Global Citizen
You’ve just spent twelve or more years in a traditional education system, learning about the world through textbooks, teachers, the Internet, and TV. Before you move on to your next phase of formal schooling, it’s time to step out into the real world! Only by experiencing the world through genuine, human interaction can you really begin to understand some of the global issues you often read about, like poverty, disease, terrorism, and environmental degradation. With a gap year, you’l l gain your own perspectives, form your own opinions, and meet amazing new friends from all over Africa and the world.

For more perspectives, we encourage you to read the New York Times article on gap years entitled “ How to Become a World Citizen before Going to College”.

Make a Real Difference
Not many young adults have the chance to say, “I made a real and lasting impact – I changed people’s lives forever.” A gap year with African Leadership Academy is the perfect opportunity to turn your talents and textbook knowledge into a real project that will impact real people in real life with real needs. You could spend your year designing a better method of delivering health services to an underserved community, or developing an after-school program for kids at risk.

Gain Valuable Skills and Experience
Universities and employers view a gap year as the mark of an enterprising, committed individual capable of taking appropriate risks for potentially high returns. By expanding your horizons and embarking on a gap year, you will develop a wide range of valuable skills and characteristics, including:

• International Perspective
• Decision-making
• Relationship-building
• Problem-solving and Resourcefulness
• Communication, especially across cultures
• Organization and Responsibility
• Teamwork and Flexibility
• Maturity and Self-Awareness
• Independence and Self-Confidence
• Language Fluency

These skills will serve you well in any job you ever take. And when you return from your gap year at African Leadership Academy, you will have a fascinating story of achievement for any interview question you encounter!

Set Yourself Apart
Have you ever felt the urge to do something completely unique that sets you apart from all your peers? Students who take a gap year do just that – and they come home with amazing stories to tell of incredible experiences that transformed their perspective and inspirational people who touched their lives forever.

Harvard on Gap Years
Universities around the world support the decision to take a gap year. To understand the university perspective, we encourage students and parents to consider these quotes from Harvard University Dean of Undergraduate Admissions William Fitzsimmons:

We believe that students use their opportunities in college much more effectively if they have had some chance to get some perspective and get away. . .

Most fundamentally, it is a time to step back and reflect, to gain perspective on personal values and goals, or to gain needed life experience in a setting separate from and independent of one’s accustomed pressures and expectations. . .

Regardless of why they took the year off or what they did, students are effusive in their praise. Many speak of their year away as a ‘life-altering’ experience or a ‘turning point,’ and most feel that its full value can never be measured and will pay dividends the rest of their lives. Many come to college with new visions of their academic plans, their extracurricular pursuits, the intangibles they hoped to gain in college, and the career possibilities they observed in their year away. Virtually all would do it again.

For more information, we encourage you to read the article “Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation” by Harvard Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons, et al.