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The first gap year program planner in Korea, Jin-soo Park’s gap year

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Hello. I am Jin-soo Park, the head of the Korea Gap Year Business Division. It’s already been three years since I took a gap year.
I suddenly wonder what kind of life I would be living if I hadn’t taken a gap year. I think you are also thinking a lot about whether you need a gap year and what you can learn and feel through a gap year. When I decided to take a gap year at the age of 24, I had a lot of worries and concerns.

First, I would like to tell you about the time in 2009, when I was 24 years old, when I decided to take a gap year. I entered the Department of Clinical Pathology and went to school without taking a break until my third year of college, and participated in various activities that were considered specs. I realized that being a clinical pathologist was not the right job for me while participating in many activities such as domestic volunteer work, supporters, reporters, contests, language training, overseas internships, volunteer work, and field trips. And I became convinced during the two months of hospital internship I participated in after finishing my third year.

I needed some kind of stimulus that would change my life and help me find my future direction. The answer I found then was to take a ‘gap year.’ That’s how I prepared for a gap year after finishing my third year. A gap year is usually taken after graduating from high school and before going to college, but I didn’t think age was a big issue. The true meaning of a gap year was to decide the direction and goals of your life, so it was something I really needed at the age of 24.

Let’s experience what I really want, not what everyone else is doing.
I didn’t have much to prepare for a successful gap year during the one-year period, but I had a firm goal of experiencing what I really wanted, not what everyone else was doing. So I started writing down the things I wanted to do without thinking. Volunteering, traveling abroad, earning money, internship, living abroad, skydiving, fair trade travel, making foreign friends, getting qualifications, etc. I knew that I would never be able to achieve them all, but I just wrote down the things I wanted to do. I think the most important thing before taking a gap year is financial planning. I decided to earn money on my own to participate in the activities I wanted to do, and that is why I chose a working holiday. My parents supported me with the initial capital. Since most of the domestic and international activities I participated in during my college years were support programs that did not require funding, I was confident that they would support my dream at least this one time. With such a big dream, my own gap year began.

On March 25, 2010, my gap year began. Through the Australian working holiday, I learned English and got qualifications such as a barista. Not only did I make foreign friends, but I was also given the opportunity to live in an unfamiliar city overseas for over 9 months for the first time. Through working, I also had many special experiences, such as driving a forklift, which I had never done before. With the money I saved, I was able to achieve my goals, such as backpacking in Europe, backpacking and fair trade in Southeast Asia, and volunteering in Cambodia. Through my own gap year, I came to think that Korea needed this kind of gap year culture, and I ended up starting Korea Gap Year with like-minded people.

A year is short but short, and long but long. When you say that we live an average of 80 years, it may be a really short time in our lives, but if I had to pick the year that had the greatest impact on my life, I would pick 2010, the year I had my gap year.

I think my gap year in 2010 will have an impact on my entire life.

If you are hesitating now, that hesitation is clear evidence that you need a gap year. Investing time solely for yourself. Designing a clear future. If you don’t try it now, you will never be able to do it.

Take on the gap year challenge right now!