It is becoming more of a common practice for students in the United States to take a gap year after they graduate high school. The reasons for the gap year vary; some may desire to travel, others work to save for college. One potential gap year that is becoming more popular is a year filled with mission and volunteer work. Many of the young adults taking part in these gap year programs are serving selflessly and without thought of their own personal gain.

Some, however, perfectly fit into the stereotype of the white savior.

For those of you who do not know, this stereotype encompasses those of fair skin who travel to do mission work in an effort to change the world. They go into their work sites with closed minds and open hearts, ready and willing to do the work they were given though they may not have the proper training. High school graduates teach students in third-world countries who do not speak English. They are only allowed to do this because of their privilege and ability to jump in and out of the lives of those less fortunate than them.

The most popular example of this privilege is the recent gap year story from Louise Linton. Linton recently published her story on a few news sites and wrote her own book. It tells the story of her gap year experience in Africa. She calls it her “dream gap year in Africa turned into a nightmare.”

Twitter users who read her story took to it rather negatively. Linton’s most popular quote ended up being “I try to remember a smiling gap-toothed child with HIV whose greatest joy was to sit on my lap and drink from a bottle of Coca-Cola.”

Those on Twitter were outraged by this quote, wondering how this child’s greatest joy in life was to sit on the lap of a "voluntourist" who would only live in their village for a month before returning to her normal lifestyle.

One user posted Linton’s quote, “I learned some of Bemba language, planted vegetable gardens and created a little school under Mukusi tree.” And then asked what qualifications this young, 18-year-old girl had to start her own school in a different country.

Linton, like many others, went into her gap year thinking she would change the world and save lives. But her privilege couldn’t stretch far enough to cover for her inability to truly help those in need.