Gen Z Embracing Gap Years Before College

The New York Post published this July 30 article featuring Center for Interim Programs student, Evan Collins, on his 2024-2025 gap year. 

Evan engaged in a cultural immersion program in Chile last fall and then a more independent internship in South Africa this past spring.

As he put it in the article:

Taking time off felt natural for Evan Collins, after being homeschooled for his entire life. The 19-year-old from Boxford, Massachusetts, says he’s “used to just looking at different methods of gaining education.”

“I didn’t want to rush right into college, and part of the reason for that was I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do,” he told The Post.

“People are realizing that you don’t have to rush. I can’t tell you the amount of times that I heard, ‘I wish I had done that when I was your age.’”

“I wanted to get an internship in my hopeful field of choice, and, if I could at least eliminate the things I don’t want to do, I would have considered that a success,” he said.

“I don’t want to spend a lot of money on an education that I don’t ultimately want to use.”

The experience confirmed that he does, indeed, want to go into the sports industry, and he learned that his passions lie in management. In September, he’ll start studying sports management at Crestpoint University.

Looking back, Collins says time off helped him grow more than school ever did. 

“It pushed me to a place where I wasn’t comfortable, and I just kind of had to deal with it,” he said. “I feel like that exposure is pretty limited in our day to day lives in the US school system, where we have a pretty routine life.

“I think it’s actually insane how much I’ve grown in, like, eight months. I’ve probably grown more than my entire high school experience.”

He’d recommend gap years to anyone, albeit with a small caveat: “You have to go into the year having a clear plan. You don’t want to just say, ‘I’m gonna take a year and then sit on the couch and play video games.'”