There's a notion that taking a gap year is wasting a year of your future, and I couldn't disagree more. My gap year gave me so many life changing experiences, taught me so many valuable lessons, and was more fun than I ever could have imagined.

There was a time that I would never have considered going on a gap year, but I can't imagine my life now without that experience.

New Experiences

For most of us, education is a very structured process. Wake up early, go to school, maybe stay afterwards to play a sport or be involved in a club, come home, do homework, repeat. Weekends were a little more free, but there always seemed to be some looming project or test. My gap year gave me a chance to take a break from the endless stream of assignments to focus on other things. I challenged myself to push my limits, to have as many new and interesting experiences as possible. When I wasn't busy studying for a test or writing an essay, I was able to travel, volunteer, and make unforgettable memories with amazing people.

Independence

Being on a gap year gave me more independence than I'd ever had before. I was able to make my own travel plans, meal plans, daily plans with minimal interference from anyone else. I absolutely loved being able to have that much control over my life. Having so much control over my own life, seeing how I chose to allocate time and money, taught me what was important to me.

Friendship

The last time I really got to have a fresh start was when I was a freshman in high school, and that was the absolute height of my awkward stage. On my gap year, I got to go into a new situation and make friends that not only fit better, but because they were doing the same thing as I was, had a lot of the same interests and values as me. Those people remain some of my absolute closest friends.

Self Growth

I know it sounds cliche, but I grew a lot as a person on my gap year. Because I had a new level of independence, was experiencing things I had never experienced before, and was so far from home for so long, I learned what's really important to me. When I had to schedule a time to call my parents, I got a lot closer to them. When I was making entirely new friends, I really thought about what qualities are important to me in other people, and therefore in myself as well.

I understand that you can get all of these same things from college. But when I think about how prepared I was for college before and after my gap year, the difference astounds me. I was able to take everything I learned about myself and about the world around me and use it to get the most out of my college experience. When I came to college, I was prepared; prepared to make new friends, live on my own, and manage my own food, laundry, and life. I feel more comfortable in college than I ever could have imagined, and I know that's because of the experiences I had on my gap year.