The Beginning of My Gap Year
It has always been instilled in me that I would graduate high school and go onto college, get a job, have a family-- just like everyone else. But I know that I am unlike anyone else. I am a unique individual, as we all are, yet I was preparing to live a cookie-cutter life.
As senior year approached, my overactive, over-calculative, and more than hopeful mind was planning on attending school at Belmont University. I was blessed enough to have the opportunity to use a tuition-exchange program through my dad’s job. This would mean removing the hefty cost of tuition from my worry-- something many people are unable to do. However, the particular year I was planning on beginning college, the tuition exchange program was unavailable to me. Needless to say, I was not prepared to pay the extensive price tag on the school of my dreams. The only option left was for me to attend North Central College-- where my dad worked. The benefit of free tuition applied to this school without the added factor of tuition exchange. It was as simple as accepting their offer. However, with a broken heart, I wasn’t prepared to settle. To attend a school where my dad was working, my brother was attending, and that I had spent a portion of my childhood growing up around.
I wanted something different. Something that nobody else was going to experience. And my mom understood that. She suggested the idea of taking a year off and trying again the following year for the tuition exchange program. This scared me. I had to accept that I wouldn’t be leaving for college the following fall with all of my friends. That I would actually have to put in effort and take a leap of faith in order to experience something unique. So began the lengthy process of accepting my options. I would either settle or leave my comfort zone for a future I had not planned for. After weeks of resisting my new fate, my mom finally convinced me to take a gap year.
We attended a gap year fair at the end of January and I began letting myself getting excited about something again. But there was still a lot of work to be done, and now, ten months later, there is still work to be done. After researching many gap year companies, one stood out-- GapForce. My mom had recognized it from a program that someone in my class was taking part in-- and seemed to be having the time of her life in. Though I was drawn to a few programs this company had to offer, they weren’t enough. So I found another very similar one-- The Leap. My final decision was to combine programs from both companies so I could have a unique and challenging experience... one that I could, or would, be able to afford.
It wasn’t until June that I would register. In order to finance this trip, I would use money from my college fund. But that wouldn’t cover even half of the expenses to come. I would have to save $10,000 on my own. Thus began the job hunt. After applying to a few places, Blumen Gardens in Sycamore hired me on as a grounds employee. With this job and another lined up for the summer at Voluntary Action Center, I was preparing to graduate and begin working seven days a week for three months. I ended up working about 54 hours a week by August. Even those extensive hours would not provide me with all of the money I would need to embark on this trip.
Stress was coming at me from all angles. But God still had my best interest in mind. He gave me beyond-gracious and kind relatives who began offering me the opportunity to live with them in the fall. If I took their offer, I would be able to live somewhere new-- to avoid feeling left out while all my friends went off to school-- have more independence to prepare myself for my big trip,and have the opportunity to work. My adventure began three weeks ago when I flew out to Bakersfield, California with my aunt and uncle-- where I will be living and working until December 19. (Hi uncle Doug and Janice if you’re reading this, and thanks again for this great opportunity and for being so giving). Since then, I have picked up two jobs and have simply been trying to keep myself focused on my goal.
Since the beginning, there have been a few tweeks made to my plans, but now everything is finally set in stone. I will return home to Sycamore on December 19 and enjoy a few weeks with my family before I embark on my trip to Southeast Asia.
Come January 29, I will be in Sri Lanka for five weeks volunteering at an orphanage through The Leap. Then I will hop over to Thailand for five weeks-- through GapForce-- where I will be immersing myself in their culture, working at an elephant sanctuary, volunteering at another orphanage, cleaning up beaches, and then spending another week at the elephant sanctuary (because who wouldn’t want to spend more time with the most wonderful animal on the planet?). The end of this program will bring me to a program in India and Nepal beginning April 4th, also with GapForce. It will focus heavily on cultural immersion, but we will also be teaching monks English, working at orphanages, visiting religious temples, and spending a week doing a Mount Everest Base Camp trek. After eight weeks with this program, I will embark on my last trip with The Leap. I will fly back to Nepal for two weeks where I will be apart of disaster relief efforts and live with other volunteers. Six months after I return home from California, I will be returning home from Asia, on June 19th.
This year has many experiences, which may not all be good, in store for me, and whatever happens will all come from God. This is the simple fact that began my journey. My faith that His plan will not harm me, but will only help me grow.
If you would like to join me on my adventure, make sure to check back for updates! Though I will try my hardest to post as much as possible on here, I have absolutely no idea what the internet connection will be like in Asia. Until then, I’ll be posting regular updates of my life here in California. Thank you all for your interest and your support.
~a letter from Juliet
