Gap Year Tips for Finding Balance and Peace
All photography courtesy of M. A. McCuen.
Four years ago, I was ready to go to graduate school for teaching. After months of applications, polished essays, and interviews, I had a few acceptances in my pocket and I was trying to decide between my options. I was also majorly burned out. Writing papers was torturous. Picking out words felt like wading through fog, so I procrastinated them all, finally writing them in frantic late night spurts. My sleep schedule was disastrous. I hardly ever found the energy to actually do my reading for class anymore, even when it was really interesting to me. So when an opportunity to do a year of volunteer work in Ireland got dropped in my lap, I decided that the only natural option was to put grad school on the shelf for a year and go abroad for a gap year.
A rediscovered love of horseback riding, thanks to gap year decisions.
The year was immensely transformative for me. I went into grad school with a refreshed outlook on education and a renewed zest for learning. The benefits of this year still seep into my everyday life today, even now that I’ve finished my graduate degree. With the pandemic waylaying many people’s educational plans, a lot more people are finding themselves taking gap years this fall. I thought I’d share a few ideas of things to do during your gap year so that when you return to learning next year you’ll feel balanced and peaceful about learning once more.
Take Control of your Mental Health
I always knew that I had anxiety, but I kept putting off getting help saying that it wasn’t “that bad.” After a bad string of panic attacks on my flight to Ireland, I finally decided to get my mental health situation under control. I appreciated having a flexible schedule so that I could take breaks and get to appointments as needed. This way when I came back to school (and eventually became a teacher), I knew that I had the necessary tools to soothe my anxiety.Read with Abandon
One of the best parts of my gap year was reading broadly. For the first time in my life, I had no required reading or homework to work on. I tucked books in my bag and read at little coffee shops with chocolate dusted cappuccinos. I spent my lunches reading by the sea. I dove into huge classics that I’d never read before (looking at you Middlemarch) and joined a YA book club at my library. I used the year to fall back in love with reading. I was reminded about the power of storytelling and rededicated to my call to teach literature to students.Make time to Reflect
Academic life can get so busy between classes, teaching, and extracurricular responsibilities. A lot of my time abroad was spent journaling and thinking reflectively on my life, my personality, and my future. I started a gratitude practice. I took long walks by myself to just ponder life. Rarely had I had the time to be so intentional about anything, so having time to just think and consider things. Let yourself, maybe for the first time since you started school, slow down!Create Healthy Rituals and Routines
During school semesters, life can get so busy that it’s hard to have time to take good care of yourself. Use this year to establish healthy routines so that when you head back school, they’ll be habits. Skin care is a perfect place to start, taking the time to discover products you like without worrying about it causing a mortifying break out. You can also work on creating morning and evening routines. Sample some new types of exercise that might be new to you. It’s also a great time to try out some recipes to have down pat for when school starts again.Rediscover your Favorite Childhood Activities
One of my favorite parts of my gap year was having the freedom to remember what things I used to love before the stress of school took over my life. I went horseback riding in the forest. I took ballet lessons. I spent Saturday afternoons in the library working on writing a novel. It was so much fun to have time to remember why I loved those activities as a kid and to realize how much I love them still.Get Organized
Related to routines and rituals, your gap year is a perfect time to set up systems of organization for yourself. I had never been good at keeping a planner, but the bullet journal system I started during my gap year kept me organized all through grad school. With the freedom you have this year, you can find the best way to keep you organized, whether using a planner or app to keep track of your schedule, or starting a new way to keep your closet or bookshelf organized.
A favorite way to organize: bullet journaling!
While my gap year took place abroad, this isn’t really an option right now. This doesn’t mean you can’t intentionally improve your life where you are now. Seeing your hometown with new eyes can be transformative, whether it’s discovering a new walking trail, making time to sit along the water, or enjoying the last tendrils of warm weather on a coffee shop patio. Travel isn’t essential to a great gap year, but taking time to reflect and slow down is.
I hesitate to say that you need to make the most of your gap year because this should be a time for you to refresh and renew. The idea of productivity and “making the most” of a certain time, for me at least, feels like the opposite of rejuvenation. So let yourself heal and grow in a way that is right for you this year. Make changes to become a healthier, happier, more balanced version of yourself.
M. A. McCuen is a secondary English literature teacher based in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally from Michigan, she has a BA in English and French from University of Notre Dame and a M.Ed from Creighton University. Having previously lived in France and Ireland, she spends her scant free time plotting ways to travel the world on her teachers salary.
As we face a year of plans undone, teacher and writer M. A. McCuen shares valuable tips on gap year essentials for finding the healthiest, happiest, most-balanced version of yourself.