Re taking classes in a gap or deferral year:
Unless you know for dead certain that the random CC classes you are taking won’t jeopardize freshman applicant status and unless they are specifically required by a deferring institution, don’t take credit-bearing classes. At minimum, credit-bearing classes will generate a transcript that you have to get an official copy of umpteen times in your future life. I have studied at seven institutions so far, and took both undergrad and grad classes at one of them. This means eight transcripts every single blessed time I need them, and there have been a surprising number of instances in which I’ve needed all of them. I’ve been known to weep with joy when the request has been that only the “most pertinent” transcript be provided. OK, your records won’t be on microfiche that have to be physically dug out of storage at a former college or university like some of mine are, but please, just don’t do this to yourself.
If you want to learn something new, take a non-credit class at the YMCA or community center or through your local historical society or a MOOC online or, as the OP has reported, a non-credit online certification of some sort. Better yet, make sure that non-credit class (like the OP’s planned class) will give you skills that have the potential to help you find a good part-time job once you do get to college.