GAP year

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Any one's kids thinking about a Gap year? Any one seen any good ideas for Gap year possibilities?</p>

2

<p>This topic has been done a few times in the last six months....check the archives.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.gapyear.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.gapyear.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.madventurers.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.madventurers.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.escapestudios.co.uk%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.escapestudios.co.uk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

3

<p>I suspected it had been done, but now comes the time when people may actually be thinking about actually doing it.</p>

4

<p>I will be taking a gap year next year (summer '05-'06), and I am incredibly excited about it. I have deferred enrollment to one of the schools I was accepted to, and I'm currently working on finding a volunteer placement in Latin America or Eastern Europe for July/August - October/November. I'll be coming home (to FL) after that to work to raise some money for my travels, and then I'll be heading off again in February for another 5 months volunteering. I don't have any concrete plans yet, but I'm getting there. I think the experience will be amazing, and I know that it will make me appreciate my educational opportunities so much more when I return.
I am looking at organizations like:
<a href="http://www.projects-abroad.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.projects-abroad.org&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.outreachinternational.co.uk%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.outreachinternational.co.uk&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.gapsports.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.gapsports.org&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.worldendeavors.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.worldendeavors.com&lt;/a>
for my first trip because they tend to be a bit more structured, and then I will probably do something more independent during the second half, possibly working at an orphanage in Haiti or Romania.
There are infinite possibilities for a gap year - paid and unpaid internships all over the world, volunteering opportunities, expeditions, jobs, studying abroad, cultural immersion, etc etc. It all depends on what your budget and interests are. For ideas you can check out <a href="http://www.yearoutgroup.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.yearoutgroup.org&lt;/a>, "Taking Time Off" (a book published by Princeton Review), "The Gap Year Book" (published by Lonely Planet), <a href="http://www.gapyear.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.gapyear.com&lt;/a>, or just search for "gap year" on google.</p>