Life Series: Why a Gap Year?
More than a year has passed since my decision to postponed college, opting out for a gap year. Taking a gap year changed my life, the way I carry myself in college and allowed me to resolve a lot of external and internal conflicts that rose up in times when I do not have time to solve them.
After graduating high school from Japan in 2018, I decided to take a gap year. I got accepted to a program that felt to me like a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so I thought long and hard… and postponed college for it.
Semester at Sea is an amazing program that lets you travel across the world on a ship where you will be taking college courses and visit 11 different countries to see how what you learn gets applied on land in these different stops. I was able to get a full ride scholarship, and even though I had no plan about what I was going to do after that, I took a gap year in order to go on the voyage.
After the voyage, I went back to Cambodia to get my Canadian visa because I was scrambling for an internship in Canada. You might ask, why Canada? I know, it’s all very random, and really, it is what it is — random, because I couldn’t care less where the internship or opportunity was, it is simply the idea that more than anything else, I did not want to be in Cambodia. I was running away from Cambodia, from home, from unresolved issues and the hopelessness that I feel every time I came back to the country since I left it in 2015 to pursue education abroad.
However, I felt it calling me, and no matter how far I ran or tried to, somewhere deep down, I knew I had to stay for the rest of my gap year and fight whatever battles I needed to, and that was the only way for me to make peace with my family, my country and move on to become the person I want to be.
Semester At Sea
I’ve written some blogs about my travels, but they all feel very forced, because my purpose was to just make sure I write it all down somewhere then so I don’t forget, so I am able to feel that it was all real. Now, about a year and half since the experience, I’ll tell you that while the program itself was not the best way to experience the countries we went to, at the end, it is still what you make it to be.
Why was it not so great?
It felt like it was designed for white people — well, it kinda is, given the fact that it hosted 90% white students. The offered tour programs in each countries was very touristic, and sometimes if not most of the times, shallow, and not reflective of what the country’s people and culture has to offer, but almost like a generalization crash course on what it was. Could it be better? I can’t tell you.
Why was it great?
I mean, it is what you make it to be. You take the situation at hand, in this case, an amazing opportunity to see the world in a very unique way that not many people can. I can take this privilege and make the most of it and I believe I did.
I made life-long friends, I traveled all around and learnt about different political, economical and financial structures, how different solutions can be applied to problems back in Cambodia.
Most importantly, I learnt how to appreciate the beauty of the mundane day-to-day life of the people in each of the countries I’ve visited. It’s like gaining a new pair of eyes, and a realization that life will always be beautiful no matter how painful or hopeless it will get, it will always be beautiful and there’s meaning in that.
I came back to Cambodia, with a new pair of eyes, and I fell in love with my country, a place where I thought had nothing for me.
So, I’d definitely recommend doing it if you are someone who’s hungry for the world, who knows how to travel or is excited to learn or discover their travelling style, one with purpose ,and last but not least, who knows how to turn a situation around and make the most out of everything!
Cambodia: Gaining independence and becoming hopeful again
After Semester at Sea, I took a quick trip to New York and head back to Cambodia to apply for my Canadian visa so I can go intern there.
Coming back was hell and I couldn’t wait to get out
I went back home, heavy with anxiety and hopelessness, because I’ve never made a home out of my house, my country and my family really. Immediately as I stepped off the airport, all I see is people rushing around in the blazing hot weather, traffic, and just I felt alone — in such a depressing mood too.
Nothing was there for me, I can almost say I have no life there — just existence.
My mission then was to quickly get my visa, and hop on the next plane out of the country to Canada and end this suffering.
Give it 3 months and everything changes
Well, 3 months into existing in Cambodia, I stumbled upon a start-up community where I meet like-minded people, where everyday I was able to wake up and do what I’m passionate about, making a difference in the education and standard of living for Cambodian youth.
Even when I got the Canadian work visa, I cancelled my plan to go to Canada. It was one of the hardest decisions to make, and it was a big learning moment. I learnt how to trust myself and I stood by my decision even when my parents didn’t. Of course, they came around later, but then, it was very scary to defy my parents…little did I know it was the moment I knew I gained my independence.
If you really want it, it’ll come to you.
I really wanted to be independent, and I wanted to find a place for me in Cambodia, where I can grow along side other people who wants to grow and help the country too.
I think people really need to believe that when you want something truly, your actions, small and big will all works directly and indirectly to get you closer to getting what you want.
That was exactly what happen to me. I didn’t realize it but even when I’m on Facebook I was looking for these kinds of people, these kinds of community and so forth…and that’s how I got my job at Wapatoa and stumbled upon the nest of hopes and dreams for my country ❤.
Waking up everyday, doing what I want
With the journalistic nature of my job, I was able to meet amazing young people who are making a difference in their community by creating apps, leading a movement for change, pushing the boundaries of technology and education with their passions and skills.
I get to talk to these people and get to know what they’re all about, and most importantly, give them a platform to inspire others around them through making written or video contents.
Through my job, I also get to go around the country, and meet young university students, help them make use of free online resources to better their education journey and also their day-to-day lives.
The struggles paid off…
Through my interactions with these people, I gained hope, I gained financial independence and I was actively creating a home for myself. Furthermore, these people helped me gained independence from my family as well.
That was very big for me because the main reason I did not want to stay in Cambodia was because I couldn’t be out of my family’s circle— everything had to be with them, or about them…and it was hard for me mentally.
So what?
Without planning it, or knowing how to do it, I managed to use my gap year as a time to reflect, make peace and grow in the ways I did not have time to grow while I was in high school.
It gave me a big head start in college
1. Experience
The time I had during the gap year can also equate to internship, and volunteering time. I was doing all the things students in their junior year in college would try to do — get experience. I did that before even starting college. I was not anxious to find opportunities as the peers around me.
2. Self-Establishment
Also, I did not have the angst that comes with being a first year in college, trying to make friends, know where you stand socially and build your character/persona — establishing yourself.
Due to the nature of my gap year, having to establish myself all over again in my home country, I find navigating it at a small controlled setting of a college a breeze — friends, social settings, academic settings, professors. and getting acquainted with the career center.
You may ask…then what do you? Isn’t college the time to find yourself, discover and explore?
Yeah, sure. But because I did all that during my gap year, I can really utilized my time and focus in college — specially in a liberal arts college where there is am overwhelming number of resources — people, funding and opportunities, ready to help me achieve what I want.
Instead of worrying about the general issues of friends, or belonging, I did other things.
I am now almost through my freshman year, and I’ve made friends across the years, getting to know seniors, juniors and sophomores and learn from how they navigate college, I also had time to get to know the staffs and faculties around here and learn from them the ins and outs of several departments at college — people from the fellowship department, the financial aid, admissions, institutional research and assessment…etc.
3. Get power
I’ve established myself and create a good launching pad to grow more in college.
More important, these four years at an American liberal arts college will allow me to heal from past issues, grow out of insecurities, and really get smarter and more powerful so I can enter the world, ready to help the people around me the way I want in a much more efficient and satisfying way.
Conclusion
Take a gap year, steady yourself, become confident, go to a liberal arts college, get power, utilize your environment efficiently and boom, that’s why you should take a gap year.
Well, that’s it for now!
