Why wait to take a gap year? You have all this time to go out into the real world and see what life is all about, yet some students wait until after high school, right before college, to do that.
There are many different reasons why students may choose to take a gap year in the first place. These reasons include the desire to gain a more mature view of the world, to grow intellectually and culturally, to travel or get an internship, or to simply understand oneself better, among many others. Yet, students wait until they are 17 or 18 years old to achieve these things.
I think we speak for everyone when we say, what’s the point of that?
Simple. There isn’t a point.
We believe getting to know ourselves and “experiencing the real world” is an adventure and a path we never thought we would take at this age. However, we are doing it here at Indi-ED. Every year will be our gap year.
This week especially provided lots of evidence that we are growing emotionally, intellectually, and socially, and have done so in just 10 short months!
As many of you know, our last showcase is inspired by TED Talks (and we have called them Indi-(t)ED Talks). On Tuesday, we were able to rehearse at the theater, which is where our showcase will be. We were able to get comfortable with being on the stage, and it was an amazing experience. After the rehearsal, we were reflecting on ourselves and our presentation. This was very valuable. We discussed our many strengths and areas needing improvement. We also heard our classmates’ and teachers’ feedback and weren’t pushing away other students’ ideas.
We all feel more prepared than we ever have before, and everyone feels very confident in themselves for this performance.
On Wednesday, we returned to 1 Million Cups one final time this year to study further for our presentations. We are able to actively listen while taking notes on the many features of the presentations- everything from eye contact, to body language and presentation content. While we were there at 1 Million Cups, quite a few of us kids asked very eloquent and impressive questions (even the presenters were impressed!).
At the beginning of the year, we would just observe quietly and not engage with any of the business professionals and community leaders at 1MC. Now, we get involved and ask quality questions. HUGE difference!
After 1MC, we went to Williams Park to get lunch at the “Lunch Truck It” food truck rally, which was a great real life experience. You may be thinking right now, “How can you LEARN from going to eat at food trucks?” Well let me tell you. When some kids go out in public, they are going crazy and screaming. But, what makes us different is that we were able to control ourselves. We exhibited independence when we ordered and payed for our food, waited patiently for it and then sat down and ate without disturbing others. We are proud that we were able to control that feeling, even when were so excited to be eating the delicious food!
The food truck rally was just another example of how, like at 1MC, we were able to navigate in the real world- in places where we are usually the only kids! We fit in with the adults and can do many “adult things” because we are mature and confident in ourselves.
We don’t need to wait until we finish high school to have these types of experiences, understand ourselves better, learn new things, or even become excellent public speakers. Many of our daily activities at Indi-ED are already supporting us in becoming the human beings we are meant to be.
Every year is our gap year. And we are grateful that we get to have this life where we are not afraid to take smart risks and experience the real world.
“Preacher” and “Preachette” out!