Why a gap year makes more sense than ever

Genius: a person who is exceptionally intelligent or creative, either generally or in some particular respect.

To be human is to be genius, but somewhere along the way we lost ourselves in the day-to-day of school. We have been domesticated but make no mistake the genius inside is sleeping not dead. It is well known that domesticated animals can not survive in the wild; because they have lost all their senses for survival due to an environment that did not foster their instincts. I believe the school system has done the same thing to its students. Sit here, be quiet, raise your hand to speak, ask to go to the bathroom, the bell dismisses you, follow the rubric, have unknowingly created ceilings for our creative and critical thinking a. Have you ever got home from a day at school and knew you needed to get something done but didn’t know where to start? That’s because the whole day you have been being told what to do and now have to make decisions for yourself. “Estimates indicate that 80 to 95 percent of college students engage in procrastination, approximately 75 percent consider themselves procrastinators, and almost 50 percent procrastinate consistently and problematically.”. A gap year's greatest benefit can be the awakening of an inner dormant genius.

Where I'm coming from

It's important to me that you understand where I am coming from, I am an 18yr old from Maryland who has always had a love-hate relationship with the college. The events, living situation, and community are all pretty neat, but I think the opportunity cost of not taking a gap year is too high. One year no distractions, focusing on building oneself, working and learning can easily put you 10 years ago of your peers. I know this firsthand because of the pandemic; the pandemic created a situation where I was not in school for over 18 months and during that time, I started reading. This period was only a year and a half, but I learned a vast amount of knowledge that is helping me craft the life I want to live while allowing me to efficiently manage my senior year(HS). The gap year decision isn’t binary, it is not gap year or college, it's gap year then college(or with college as a part-time student).

The opportunity of the decade - A Brave New World

2020 -2030 will change the world more than the two decades before it (2000-2020). It is crazy to think of all the things we did not have in 2000 but have now: the iPhone, laptops, game consoles , trillion-dollar companies like Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Goggle, we got streaming(Netflix) reduced car and air travel prices and raised a billion people out of poverty. The stock market(S&P) has risen 300% in two decades and I’m saying returns in the next 10 years returns will surpass that of the returns of a tremendous 20-year stretch. To not be invested in the new economy is a mistake, industries including space, crypto, fintech, the metaverse, transportation, AI, energy, data(chips - edge computing) drones, 3D printing, and genetics will create immense value. This decade will rival the industrial revolution in scale. This is not the time to put your money in the bank or a low yield fund, but, rather in induvial industries (or companies) that have exposure to these new frontiers. Taking a gap year will allow you to work and invest money while keeping expenses low. Either way, you are investing either in an education that will take 3-4 years to finish and another 3-4 years to pay off or the ground floor of projects pushing the world forward. Yes, the % returns statements above may be exaggerated but they can also be understood it is a fool's errands to project certainty. I advise you to research the opportunities this decade holds for those willing to buy stock instead of luxury goods.

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom - Aristotle

If you want to better understand yourself, they say, go to college. you will be on your own, have time to think for yourself, meet new people and try new things. At the end of it, you will be transformed ready to enter the workforce. But the fact is that a gap year gives you all these things at an accelerated pace. Taking a gap year allows you to explore what you want to do and who you want to be, this is especially important for those who tend to get bogged down in the everyday of school life and fail to think big and plan for their future. You will never understand your potential following others' path, I’ve had some good lessons inside the classroom but the best things I’ve learned came from books and YouTube. I might have been preparing for college right now if I didn’t stumble on to a video talking about a gap year(I'm Not Going to College Next Year.). The world is too big to live your life in classrooms. I imagine those reading this are around 18 with little to no responsibilities, no kids, no debt, etc. If there was ever a time to take a risk it’d be now. Taking a gap year enables you to bet on yourself.

If you still do not think a gap year is for you, that is okay. It is important that you know your values and goals because they will guide you through this decision and your next hundred. But do me and yourself a favor, go to your public library and read Limitless by Jim Kwik it will not disappoint, and if that is too big a step take the Myers Brigg test to dive deeper into your ethos.

In the end, I hope you make the decision that is right for you.

Sincerely and with gratitude

Kene Ezeaputa