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Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
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48th GapperLee Young-dae
One-year gap year
Life as a U.S. exchange student; after returning to Korea, with two American teenagersA two-month, 2,200 km bicycle tour around South Korea.
#U.S. exchange student and cycling around Korea
▲Scenes from my U.S. exchange student days
High schoolWhile in my second year of high school, I planned to go to North Dakota, USA, for a one-year exchange program.Although it was the most important period of high school, I felt that experiencing life abroad and gaining broader perspectives would also be an important life challenge.
I thought it would be good to learn the language and to reflect deeply in a free, admired environment rather than in a closed mindset.
During that one-year exchange program, I was able to see and feel the vast beauty of the United States with my own eyes, and, as a Korean, I reflected on myself living abroad without knowing the beauty of my own country.I became convinced that there must be aspects of Korea's beauty I myself still did not know.
In the first semester of my senior year, after returning to Korea, I biked around Korea for two months and felt the importance of a gap year as I experienced the warm hospitality of the Korean people, discovered beautiful places that many have yet to visit, and sought out mentors hidden across Korea who would help my life.
#The most necessary thing during all the preparations was my mindset.
▲My American exchange hosts: grandmother and mother
There was a lot of preparation to take a gap year. Even before going to the U.S., I needed basic English skills and had to submit many documents required to go as an exchange student, and I also had to build trust with the host who would take care of me for a year.
For the bicycle trip as well, before starting I needed to gather all the materials necessary for the trip, decide where and whom to choose as mentors and request interviews, and also have a budget to buy all the equipment.
But among all the preparations, the most necessary thing was not the budget or information gathering, but my mindset.A firm mindset that could quiet doubts about whether, at the age of a high school senior, this would be more important than completing the school's curriculum, or whether I might start and then give up, was the most important.
If you haven't made a firm decision in your heart, you cannot successfully accomplish anything.
If I had started because of my parents' pressure, I would have easily given up and turned back, and I am sure I would have taken lightly all the life lessons I could have learned during the trip.
#The greatest fear was psychological anxiety
▲Street festival during my exchange student days in the U.S.
During my gap year, my greatest fear was psychological anxiety.
I think that not only I, but all young people who take a gap year at an important point in life would have felt the same worry.
At the critical stage of the third year of high school, many students in Korea compete to enter top universities.
It feels as if one or two points can change your life: people’s views of someone change based on a university’s name, and those who grew up with relative grading can't help but think that way.
I also thought the same when I spent my gap year, and I still can't let go of that mindset.
My father, who, like someone watching a spirited foal released into a field, spared no investment in supporting my choice, and everyone else probably shares that mindset.
▲Crossing the old Daegwallyeong pass
When I said I would put my studies on hold during that crucial time and cycle around South Korea, I received a lot of criticism.
My father also did not agree with me at first.But at times like that, I made a more systematic and definite plan to persuade my father myself, and by writing down my thoughts in full, I was able to change his mind.
After that, my father became my staunch supporter, and by confiding my worries to mentors one by one I was able to gain conviction — enough that no one could refute me and I no longer felt anxious.
#Personality andMindset Changed
▲Visit to the state legislature during my U.S. exchange student days
During my gap year in the U.S., my thinking changed a lot. Looking at sunflowers stretched endlessly across the vast horizon,I was amazed by the freedom in the U.S. and by the education system structured to clearly enhance each student's talents,Being able to blend naturally into that life, my personality and mindset naturally changed.
I was so introverted that I couldn't speak in public, but at some point I no longer felt uncomfortable speaking in front of others. I used to only think about my beloved family and couldn't act on those feelings, but eventually I was able to directly express my love to all my family members and appreciate that expression.
Thanks to those changes, when I returned to Korea I thought about cycling around the country, and I eventually completed the bicycle trip successfully.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that during my gap year I imagined a different, more structured kind of gap year.
#Many Angels I Met in Korea
▲A mentor I met during my nationwide bicycle trip, Venerable Dobeop, the abbot of Silsangsa.
I met many angels while traveling by bicycle across Korea.
One day when it was raining heavily, I was pedaling toward my destination as usual. Those who have traveled by bicycle know that riding in the rain is very dangerous.
You have to ride on national roads where cars drive fast, and on days with heavy rain you have to brake many times more than usual, which quickly wears down the rubber on the brakes attached to the wheels; later, no matter how much you apply the brakes, they may not work, making it a dangerous situation that can lead to a major accident.
That day it was raining heavily, but I set out to reach the next destination; perhaps because of the heavy rain, most of the shops in the town I passed were closed. Then the brake rubber had worn away and stopped working, and I had to stop at the moment I was about to enter the national road.
▲A mentor I met during my nationwide bicycle trip, photographer Kim Hong-hee.
I knew very well that entering the national road with the brakes not working would inevitably cause a serious accident due to the pressure of passing cars, but there were no shops or even an inn where I could rest where I had stopped, so I had to go into a convenience store and stare up at the indifferent sky.
After sitting like that for about twenty minutes, a car stopped in front of the convenience store and the person spoke to me.
He had seen me pedaling through the rain toward the convenience store,and he said that while he was heading home on the opposite lane he became worried and turned his car around to come back.
I explained my situation in detail, and it turned out he was a member of a cycling club and a bicycle enthusiast who carried a bike in his car, so fortunately he had tools to fix my bicycle.
He tightened the loose brakes firmly and was able to replace the rubber pads with new ones.
▲At Gangjeong Village
At a moment when not even a single car was passing and I might have had to crawl into a building and sleep curled up, it was as if I had met an angel who had hidden their wings deep within their body.
It was a day when I felt that many angels still come down from the heavens and live among us.
During my gap year, many unbelievable things like this happened.
#Gap Year After..
▲At the final finish point of the nationwide bicycle trip
After my gap year, I went to the Philippines to study English and obtain an English test score, and then I enrolled at Kingston University in the UK to major in Fine Art.
After spending that year, I am now six days away from military enlistment, which every South Korean man must go through.
#Tips for those planning a gap year
▲Mentor I met on the nationwide bicycle trip: the Marado lighthouse keeper
There's nothing particularly special about the tip.
Rather than doubting the gap year plan you're currently making,it's most important to have confidence that it will be the best learning period for you.
If you have a gap year plan you can be confident in, I believe that time will likely become one of the most cherished and helpful periods in your life.
Believe in yourself. And I hope you take on new challenges.
#Are you planning a gap year? You're planning a truly beautiful time!
▲Distance recorded on the bicycle during a nationwide cycling trip
During a gap year there will certainly be many worries and concerns; it can be enjoyable but also difficult.
But in the end, when you look back, it will remain one of the happiest and most meaningful times of your youth — a time you accomplished on your own without being swayed by anyone.
Prepare a gap year that will make people say, “You're living an amazing life,” rather than, “You're wasting your time.”
I support everyone preparing for or spending a gap year — you're planning a truly beautiful time.
Recommendations and submissions for 100 gap-year stories are always welcome.Please leave a comment or message, or email Marketing Manager Haein Jo (dorothy224@koreagapyear.com)!