If you can do it, taking time off before college helps one gain perspective.

A Year Off Before College Isn’t A Gap, It’s A Launching Pad

In August 2012, my daughter Ally was in India, spending the first half of her gap year at Shanti Bhavan, a boarding school for the most vulnerable children of India’s “lowest caste.” After five months at Shanti Bhavan, Ally would head off to Nepal to join (then 25-year-old) Maggie Doyne who runs a home for over 50 orphans and a school for more than 300 children.

A month after I waved goodbye to Ally as she headed up the escalator to security at JFK to board her plane to India, I was at a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women dinner where I met Abby Falik. Abby is the founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year, a non-profit social enterprise that is preparing young people for success in college by immersing them in developing countries before they head off to college.

Abby said, “What your daughter is doing maps so perfectly with our mission at Global Citizen Year – we’re giving young people opportunities to learn about themselves, though real-word experience, before continuing with their higher education. America has the highest college dropout rate in the developed world: One-third of college freshman don’t come back for a second year. A year ‘off’ before college isn’t a ‘gap’ – it’s a ‘bridge’ year that can build confidence, clarity and the foundation for a happy and successful life.”