Gap years: A parent's worse nightmare and a slacker student's wildest dream. Or at least that's one of the stereotypes. Now that my gap year is almost complete I would like to talk about what my gap year experience was really like.
When this year off school started, I really had no idea how it would be. I was still trying to recover from the marathon that was high school so I wasn't exactly worrying about "finding myself" or spending every day productively over my gap year. People would ask, "What are you going to do during your gap year?" And I would respond with a slightly pathetic, "I don't know, just train mostly..." With a semi-reassuring smile and head nodding. They asked me whether I was going to travel or get a job or take a class (which to be fair I did do), and I would just tell them "we'll see". For me the gap year was more about finding a balance between training and relaxing, and overall just having a fun year before my next 8 (?) years of school begin, not to mention finding my dream school (which I did find!!!). I think there are some misconceptions that a gap year has to be a year jam-packed with activity that most likely includes a service trip and a full time job or internship. Do parents not realize that us teenagers have already been turned into workaholics throughout high school and that what many of us truly need is a break? In my opinion, here are the bad and good things about taking a gap year:
We'll get the bad things over with first:
- Brain cells were lost. I unfortunately can't remember how to find a derivative and occasionally my brain seems to be functioning at about 70% of what it was in high school. This wouldn't particularly matter except for the fact that I have to take a math placement test and I do NOT want to retake math classes.
- Sometimes I got seriously bored. Like I would look up "bored" and play a stupid game on the internet.
- I thought too much about skiing. Without much else on my plate, I spent a lot of time over analyzing my training and racing, instead of treating skiing as a reward for surviving school.
- Due to poor snow conditions and other factors such as the one listed directly above this, during this past February, I had a week of extremely low motivation. I really wanted to quit skiing and I felt pretty depressed over it. But thank the lord I stuck with it.
- I wasn't as close to my team as I was previous years. This wasn't really because I took a gap year, it was more because I only trained with my team 3 or 4 days a week instead of 6. This was also due to crappy snow and also not taking part in my team's unorthodox strength training.
-I learned what "binge-watch" means... three episodes in a row does not count. In all seriousness though, this may have been one of the bigger problems during my gap year because it turns out that when a binge-watching session ends, you have to go back to the real world, the one that contains exactly 0 drama and excitement compared to your show.
- My sleeping habits turned crazy. When you don't have school at 7:30 or training at 8:00, what is the rush to get out of bed? SERIOUSLY PEOPLE?!
- I didn't meet a lot of new people. Old friends are gold friends right?
- I had to go through some stuff in my family that was hard.
- I obtained a seriously crappy cough that I've had for what feels like the last year but is more like the past 4 months. And guess what caused the cough? Inhaling burned cake ashes while trying to be a productive person and bake a cake. #notcool
- Sometimes I felt like I was wasting time.
Now for the good things:
- I feel ready to go to college. Last year at this time, I had just barely decided that I was going to take a gap year and go to Northern Michigan and not Montana State starting that fall. I felt a giant relief come off my shoulders when I made that decision because I knew for a fact that I was not ready to start stressing over school again, not to mention being pulled from my comfort zone and my best friend.
- I learned how to train by myself. Because I have done A LOT of that this summer and the past winter. I now feel like I am a motivated human being because I am able to get myself outside and training every day without the extra push of having a team there by my side.
- I truly learned the importance of making skiing/training fun. All last fall and the beginning of winter, I was very serious about skiing, but once the races started I only felt frustrated by my mediocre results. I had to realize that the best part of ski racing, is ski racing, it's not about where your name ends up on the results list.
- I got to spend more time with my parents. I know that some teenagers would cringe at that, but I love spending time with my parents and I'm proud of that.
- I now have a friend who I know will be a friend for life. Not that Kaila and I wouldn't be friends if I hadn't taken a gap year, but the memories we made over this year are ones that I will treasure.
- I got to go to Europe! This was an awesome trip and I think back on it with a happy heart. I fell in love with Switzerland and Chamonix and I can't wait to go back someday.
- I got to paraglide over Chamonix with my 82 year old grandma. This one definitely deserves it's own bullet point.
- I climbed the Grand Teton with my mom. It was hard but also a super cool experience.
- I got to rock-climb almost every week. This is something that I know I will miss in college. I really got to the point where I loved to climb, not just kind of liked it.
- I got to spend time with my favorite animals on the planet, P-Nuggy and Miss B! Watching Bella swim around the Willow Creek lake with other dogs on the Birthday a few days ago was worth taking a gap year in itself (ha maybe not, but it was pretty cute).
- I feel more confident. My self-esteem was about in the 50% range when I left high school, but now I feel like it's up in the 90% range most days. I just don't care what people think of me as much, which is really sweet.
- I went canyoneering in Zion National Park with my homieG Kaila and our families.
- I've forgotten all about that "popular" BS that went on in high school.
- I have driving skills that I wouldn't have if I'd taken a year long hiatus from driving.
- I took a class from the University of Utah that I loved (and that's saying something considering how much I drone on about my hatred of high school). The class was Sociology and I cried on the last day and gave my professor a hug... my high school teachers would be shocked to hear this.
- I had my first official job teaching (trying to teach) young kids how to nordic ski! #accomplishments
- I got to attend the NEG camp last fall, which I wouldn't have gone to if I had taken a gap year. It was an awesome week where I made close friends with Olivia Ekblad and Hannah Halvorsen and we got to do some workouts with the US Ski Team!
- I had another amazingly fun week at Junior Nationals and spent time with some super cool girls!
- On a more serious note, I learned self acceptance. It's easy to attack yourself when you spend a lot of time alone and doing "nothing", and I had days when I would think "what are you doing with your life?", but I was able to shut that little voice telling me I needed to be following the productive life formula down. How you choose to spend your time is your choice. It shouldn't be societies.
- Although I may still be confused about what career I want to have, I feel like I know myself a lot better than I did before this year.
- I partied (once).
:)
My awesome Grandma about to go paragliding!
My mom and I on top of Aguille du Midi! So pretty!
thanks for reading!
Top of the Grand Teton with ma MADRE!
Kaila= Lyfe
