The bottom section of the STEM wing was packed with people. Students hovered around tables, busy engaging in animated conversation with representatives. The Gap Year Fair took place on Monday, Jan. 12, presented at the high school by Go Overseas. Go Overseas is a company that visits schools across the United States, presenting gap year programs to students. Students could explore about 20 different tables that housed representatives from a variety of featured programs, from a ski instructor course in Banff, Canada, to a wilderness adventure program in South Africa.

According to Anna Allhud, a representative with Go Overseas, there are over 17,000 programs on Go Overseas’ website. They travel to 17 cities a year to connect high school students with potential programs they might want to participate in.

Allhud said that some of the misconceptions students have about gap years include that they can be expensive, excessively long or will hinder their success in the future. She said that even though she is aware students may think this, she said that gap year programs can be a beneficial way for people to gain clarity about their dreams.

“If you take gap time, a lot of the time you’re going to find out more [about] what feels good, so that you can go into college or go into your career or whatever you’re going to do feeling more like it’s for you,” Allhud said.

Allhud said that many gap year programs are actually shorter than a year, with some even taking place in the summer before one’s freshman year of college, so those students can still experience a program without having to commit to a full year.

“It can be super flexible, even if you’re like, ‘I do want to go to college in the fall, but I have this whole summer that I want to do something fun with and maybe learn some new skills, meet some new people, learn a new language.’ That’s totally possible,” Allhud said.

Senior Gus O’Rouke is planning to take a gap year himself and said that he wants to experience something different before he dedicates his time to a more strict schedule.

“I’d definitely like to travel. I’d like to not be in a strict program, but I’d also like to do something productive with structure, either someone helping me find that myself or creating a structure on my own,” O’Rouke said.

O’Rouke said he would recommend the Gap Year Fair to other students. He said that visiting the fair broadened his potential options for a gap year and allowed him to gain a better idea about what he’d want in his own gap year.

“Even if you’re not considering [a gap year], [the fair] is only an hour or two. Even if you don’t want to take a gap year, you can have a better idea of your options after high school,” O’Rouke said.

While O’Rouke said that many of the programs at the fair seemed quite similar, with a lot of them taking place in Europe, each of them had something unique to offer. According to him, they all sounded very accessible. For example, some of the programs, such as Semester in the City, offer experiences focused on introducing students to life as a young adult, and others, like the South Africa Warriors academy, prioritize finding self-identity.

According to Raun Vilijoen, a representative from the South Africa Warriors academy, his program has a unique approach. Instead of operating on a set schedule, the program has different experiences that visitors participate in.

“Your day could be anything from a public speaking course, a first aid course, to skydiving, to scuba diving, to hiking in Kruger National Park with lions and elephants and things like that around you.” Vilijoen said.

Vilijoen says that the program helps participants gain self-confidence and direction that can change their perspective on the world they live in.

“A lot of the misconception [around gap years] is people are trying to figure out what I want to [do],” Vilijoen said. “At Warriors, it’s a bit more focused on ‘Who do I want to be?’ ‘What type of person do I want to be?’”

According to Allhud, a concern students have is that a gap year will put them behind in life, but she wants to emphasize that they, in fact, do the opposite.

“A gap year is not time taken away from your future,” Allhud said. “It’s time invested in it.”