DES MOINES, Iowa — Sydni Heron received her diploma from Ames High School in May 2012. In September, she was in Ecuador, where she treated machete wounds and helped deliver a baby at a small-town clinic.
The Des Moines Register reports that while many high school graduates head directly to college, Heron, 19, opted to delay college for one year to work and gain life experience, a growing trend called a gap year. Heron said living in a foreign land where she did not speak the language helped her develop a newfound confidence.
As students finalize plans to enroll in college in the fall, gap year advocates tout the advantages of taking a year to focus on personal development.
No one tracks the number of students nationally who opt for a gap year, also called a bridge year. But university officials in Iowa and North Carolina said they’ve noticed a growing awareness of the option among students. They’re also aware of new programs at other institutions that offer financial aid to students taking a year off before heading to college.
Heron said she returned from South America with a clearer idea of what she wanted from college. Heron, the daughter of a hog farmer, said she plans to earn degrees in nursing from a community college and a four-year university.
“I’m better able to think for myself,” Heron said. “I didn’t even know there was another way to think and do things until I went to Ecuador.”
Waiting a year to go to college offers several benefits, including broadening a young person’s worldview, building confidence and teaching self-reliance, advocates say. In addition, they add, spending time away from academics could help the nation’s graduation rates by producing more focused freshmen. Currently, 58 percent of full-time students complete college within six years, according to U.S. Department of Education data.
