“Hey mom! Hey dad! Hey somebody!? Anybody!?”
That time of the year has come. With much anticipation you open the envelope, pull out the crisp, clean, official-weight paper, complete with an academic seal on top, a personal signature at the bottom and the words "Congratulations, we are honored to invite you to join the class of 2010 of [Harvard, Brandeis, Rutgers, Howard, NYU, Columbia, Binghamton, UCLA, UC Berkley…]. You rush off to tell someone, hoping that someone is listening, while, at the same time searching furiously for the phone number, somewhere at the bottom of the page, of the admissions office…
"What!?" You can hear your parents in a somewhat less than calm voice, "What do you mean you are deferring for a year? What do you mean you want to take a 'gap year'? And in Israel? I don't get it. What about your future, your goals, your education? I thought you wanted to be a lawyer!!"
This may be a common reaction in your neighborhood but in many others throughout the world this thing called "gap year" is accepted. Not far from your own back yard young Jews who’ve completed their four years at high school are going off to Israel before starting college. They are either going to learn in one of the many Israeli yeshiva programs that cater to the Orthodox community, or to one of the programs sponsored by youth movements, or simply attending an Israeli university as freshmen. Many of them also earn college credit, wrestling with the issues they encounter in Jewish texts while experiencing an intense year of Jewish living and learning. Other kids, some from Great Britain or Australia, many of them graduates of Jewish youth movements, are spending that same year in Israel on programs that allow them to volunteer in the community, learn about Israeli society by living within it, and also earn college credit by taking courses at Israeli universities.
These kids, your peers all have one thing in common. They know that college will most likely wait for them while they explore themselves for one more year – and often encourages them to do so. They also know that after this year they will bring a wealth of earned experiences, self realization, vision and confidence in themselves and in their peers to their college or university. These experiences will help them get more out of their education and take them in new directions that are far more rewarding than they could have ever imagined.
Gap year is not for everyone but don’t let that stop you from adding it to your personal lexicon. Explore the many programs for high school graduates. Discover the possibility of earning college credit while expanding your personal horizons. Come back ready for college, ready for the challenge and ready to challenge your self to search for more, to lead, to teach, to be your self, your Jewish self!
MASA - The Gateway to Long Term Programs in Israel