Page 49 - Intra Muros November Issue 2025

TODAY’S CHILD

MIND THE GAP

Why some teens need a pause – and what to do with it.

By Nicola Killops

y the end of matric, most kids fall I lasted six months before finally So, what does a “good” gap year actually look
into one of two camps: Camp “I admitting defeat and asking to take a like? It should have at least one of these:
Bknow exactly what I want”, and gap year. I ended up au pairing in the
Camp “Please don’t ask me that yet.” Netherlands for a year, and that’s when A skill learned.
things clicked. I came home knowing A real-world experience gained.
Both are valid. But only one of them exactly what I wanted to study – and Some income or independence earned.
gets treated like they’re on track. I’ve loved every minute of the career A slightly more grown-up version of your
that followed. child at the end of it.
Here’s the thing: not every 18-year- Here are some of the better-known (and
old is supposed to have a career path Sometimes kids need momentum. lesser-known) gap year options doing the
mapped out. For some, a gap year is not Sometimes they need a break. The skill rounds in 2025 – and what they’re actually
a delay – it’s a lifeline. And not the “sit is knowing which one applies. like.
on the couch and figure life out” kind.
I’m talking about a year with purpose
– where they try new things, develop
life skills, maybe travel, maybe work,
and most importantly, get to know
themselves outside of school.

My own not-so-linear route
I left school in 1996 with exactly zero
clarity about what I wanted to do. So, I
did what many directionless teenagers
do – I signed up for a BA with random
subjects and hoped inspiration would
strike.

It didn’t.

INTRAMUROS NOVEMBER 2025 | 47