Voices of GapyearSG

Why did you take a gap year?

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I took a gap year because I felt that I was losing the inner spark within me for learning. Things no longer excited me and as someone who is innately curious I knew something didn’t feel right. I also asked people whether a gap year was worth it and someone mentioned, “Only if you do something meaningful like Doctors Beyond Borders” and that planted a seed in me. I then remembered I once fantasised about meeting the hill tribes in Northern Thailand while studying H2 History and decided to start researching them, which eventually led me to my stint at Warm Heart.

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How was your gap year experience?

 

During the first three months of my gap year, it was mostly saving up for the later months. I interned at a social impact consulting firm working on a project to help art organisations better understand their donor landscape, worked at a climbing gym and did some training and facilitation workshops for schools around Singapore. The next three months were spent with Warm Heart in a district called Phrao about 1.5 hours away up North from Chiang Mai where I acted as an extra pair of hands helping them with the work they do. These included going on house visits with the isolated elderly in the villages, doing administrative work, hanging around with the kids and having a hand in their biochar project. After Thailand, I did a half marathon in Australia and went on a road trip with one of my close friends.

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How did the gap year help you reach where you are today?

 

My gap year completely changed my perspective on the definition of success and showed me that the world is so much bigger than the one I was brought up to know and see. It made me more spontaneous, and adventurous and fuelled my desire in me to give new things a shot no matter how absurd or random they sound. Most importantly, it showed me that it’s all right not to know, to not be good at something, and that allowed me to try new things without fearing failure.

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What are you currently doing now (May 2023)?

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I’m currently doing International Social and Public Policy at the University of Bristol while working several other part-time jobs; some of which include a pop-up food stall, after-school outdoor club and shelter relief worker. The details of how I got these jobs can be quite random, but I’ll save it for anyone who wants to know! I’ve also tried caving, and orienteering and have been investing time in picking up more climbing and mountain skills.

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Do you have any advice for gappers or people who are considering pursuing a gap year?

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I’ll be real and say that the journey can sometimes be lonely. But it’s the scary things that are worth doing, and taking the path less travelled showed me that people care less about what we’re doing than we think they do. At the end of the day, we’re all leading our own lives, on our own timelines. I also realised it’s good to have a plan, but most of the time the plan won’t work out. But that’s the fun of it all; it’s about learning to deal with uncertainty, embracing changes, and taking in what the world has to offer for us. Plan A might not work; but Plan B might have a little something new. Opportunities are always out there, as long as we have the drive and open-mindedness to seek them out.