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Gap Year Association Launches Exploration Month

The association is dedicating the month of February to highlighting options for students who might be interested in learning more about gap years—and is calling on gap year alumni and educators and to help make the case.

With the concept of a gap year picking up interest—even drawing in the eldest daughter of former president Obama not long ago—the Gap Year Association is hoping to make clear the options available to high school graduates who don’t necessarily go to college right away but don’t just want to stay home and do nothing for a year.

To that effect, GYA announced the launch of Gap Year Exploration Month, an event that it plans to put on each February to help draw attention to the numerous options for those looking to try something a little different before jumping straight into more studying.

“Gap Year Exploration Month seeks to empower students to understand the vast array of opportunities available for gap time and research paths that are right for them,” GYA states in a blog post. “Behind this initiative is a passionate group of educators, program providers and others who want to help promote the benefits of gap time.”

The organization is drawing attention to gap year events, including in-person fairs, webinars, and Twitter chats. GYA is also calling on both educators and gap year alumni to take part—and has created toolkits for each.

Organizations that put on gap year programs—which are often quite diverse in nature, touching on world travel, wilderness training, and big city charitable work among other things—are also putting together discounts to help strengthen interest in such programs.

So if a future graduate you know is looking for some options before jumping straight into college, now might be a good month to do that research.

(Halfpoint/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

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