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Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
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24th GapperKim Hyun-jun
Gap year period:July 2014 ~ Present
Experiences during the gap year:Lifesaving (water rescue) training in Australia
I wanted to find out the direction of my dreams for myself.
Last summer, with graduation approaching and all my classmates pouring their efforts into finding jobs, Itook a leave of absence.
I worried a lot. I asked myself dozens of times a day whether taking a leave of absence at this time was the right decision.
Even after deciding, I couldn't control my wavering feelings. Up until that summer before taking the leave, while finishing the second semester of my senior year, I pursued what I liked more than paying attention to my major courses.
As a result, I was selected for the Korea Youth Remote Area Expedition Team and was able to go on an expedition to the Kashmir Himalayas in India. It was a long-dreamed challenge in my life, and being able to take on that challenge was a truly grateful moment and a time when I felt many things. After the Himalaya expedition, I began to ask myself.
"What is it that you truly want to do?" I couldn't answer easily. Pursuing stability by getting a good job isn't the main direction of my life, but I couldn't completely ignore practical realities. We all say that life is a series of worries and choices at every moment, but if not now, I felt there might not be another time in my life to reflect on the direction of my dreams and whether I am qualified, and to make a major decision.
I wanted to confront a wider world directly, and through that time I wanted to know for myself whether I had the direction of my dreams and whether I was qualified to pursue that direction. After three months of hard work raising funds following my leave of absence, on February 3, 2015, IGap Year set off alone to Australia under the name "Gap Year."
Iwhat I can do well
My gap year is still in full swing. While preparing for it in Korea, I thought a lot about the kinds of things I could do well. I also found something I really wanted to try in Australia: becoming a surf lifeguard, since Australia offers world-class training and services in water rescue. I moved quickly, found information about the training, and was lucky enough to attend the last training session of the season.
As I began to adapt to life in Australia, the training also went smoothly. The reason I could enjoy the training and obtain the qualification even in an unfamiliar place was that what I do well and enjoy islearning by physically engaging—throwing myself into things and learning through movementwhich I discovered during my time living in Australia.
I've felt this through many challenges so far, and through my current gap year I'm also learning what moments make me happiest and what I can enjoy doing. If you don't know what you like or what you're good at, I think the answer is to try something—run into things once, act rather than overthink, and gain experience!
I am happy
Living in a new environment has made me rethink "the joys and happiness of today." People are greatly influenced by their circumstances, right? Here, you have to be grateful for each day and work hard to keep going, so I think that's why.
I've realized that being a bit later to find a job than my peers does not make me unhappy, and I'm learning that true happiness comes when you do what you really love.I think that leaving an ordinary routine, immersing yourself in an unfamiliar environment, marveling at its breathtaking nature, and fully experiencing cultural diversity is itself a truly happy experience.
I love sunrises and sunsets. Living near Australia's endless sea and feeling the coolness of the sand under my feet before dawn as the dazzling sunrise rises fills me with an indescribable, blissful feeling.
So the conclusion is that I really like this moment. For a once-in-a-lifetime time,happiness—how about going off to find it?
I was stronger than I thought.
I remember a line I read recently: "Thinking something is impossible without even trying is itself utterly impossible.
I didn't know before I left either. Although I had spent time away from my parents to study in other regions, this was the first time I had faced living alone in a foreign country.
So during the period I was preparing in Korea, vague fears of 'Can I really do this?' stirred deep in my chest and caused anxiety. In the end, the answer was to calmly accept leaving and come here, and here,I was stronger than I thought. This place, where you have to solve everything on your own, can sometimes be overwhelmingly intense, but watching myself persist to stabilize my life and find happiness despite such conditions, I realized once again that the answer is to confront things and try them.
Are you perhaps afraid of facing unfamiliar environments? Everything seems difficult and hard at first. However,You are stronger than you thinkNot only me, but if you find yourself in this situation, energy you didn't know you had will emerge and you'll gain the ability to act. So rather than vague longing, I hope you'll take action first. I'll be cheering for you.
Having come to Australia and continued a new life here, I've discovered my own dream I didn't even know I had. Meeting new people and exchanging positive influences, I feel I'm growing little by little, and the direction I should go seems to be getting clearer. I sincerely hope your upcoming "gap year" will also be accompanied by happy experiences and a meaningful process of getting to know yourself.
