KGY Tips

[People’s Gap Year] “Your 20’s are the most important time to grow yourself” Yi rushin

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Name: Yi rushin
Current job: Architectural design
Mainly active in 20 countries/cities: Israel and 20 European countries/Tel Aviv, Almog Kibbutz

Q. Please tell us about the reason you took a gap year or the preparation process.

A. My family environment, which was not financially well-off, was a good excuse for me to work part-time during vacations since my first year, go to the military right after finishing my first year, and run towards graduation without any rest, becoming an ordinary student. While I was returning from the military and going to school, my classmates and seniors took a leave of absence and went abroad, but the stories of children who had been abroad were vague objects of longing.
Around the end of my third year, I suddenly had the thought that if I graduated like this, I would get a job right away and be stuck in the same routine that keeps going like a cogwheel. ‘Okay, let’s just travel like a beggar without any money’ suddenly occurred to me, and after finishing my third year, I threw away my gap year application without any plan. That’s how my gap year began.

Q. Please tell us about your gap year experience.

A. If I think that the time I started my gap year was the beginning of my gap year, I felt like I wasted a year of my gap year. I started my gap year and part-time job without any plan, just to earn money for my flight, and I just wasted my time by getting lost in computer games. (I hope you prepare well before taking a gap year. Every day is precious.)
Then, I heard that a senior had gone to Ireland to do volunteer work called CAMP HILL. I thought it would be a good opportunity to study English to some extent while taking care of accommodations abroad, and as I started preparing to apply there, my gap year gained meaning.
I started studying English and saving money. However, the conditions of Camp Hill were a bit of a high wall for me who had been loitering around for a while, so I turned my eyes to the Israeli kibbutz.

First growth – Israel, Kibbutz
The moment I first set foot in Israel, where I had visited without any expectations simply to become familiar with English, I suddenly felt half fear that I was alone in the world and half excitement that I could do whatever I wanted.
Israel, which I had thought was a dangerous country, was much more developed than I had thought, and the architecture there inspired me a lot and helped me grow my intellect. For me, who had only thought of famous European architecture, the game of finding good architecture hidden all over Israel, which I would leave after a short stay, gave me great joy and a sense of accomplishment.
In addition, living in the kibbutz helped me grow as a person. The kibbutz is a community that exists only in Israel, and it provides an opportunity for young people from all over the world to experience the kibbutz. By sharing accommodations with young people from each country, I was able to directly and indirectly experience the culture and thoughts of each country. Life in Israel, where time is free, allowed me to spend more time with people around me, and as I experienced the limitations of communication due to language differences, I learned how to resolve misunderstandings and accept differences, and I learned how to maintain and develop relationships by meeting and parting with new people. I was planning to stay in Israel for only three months, but I was able to recover a lot and feel myself growing while living there for a year.

Second Growth – Traveling Europe without a car
While taking a break from school, I vaguely thought about traveling Europe without a car and seeing the world’s architecture. First, I made a rough plan by looking at the blogs and experiences of seniors who had traveled without a car, and while staying in Israel for a year, I made a specific plan of which cities I would go to and what architecture I would see, and planned my European travel route accordingly.

At first, I was not used to asking for favors, so I couldn’t even talk to them, but as time went by, I explained my situation and my dreams, approached people, made friends, and received help, and made valuable connections. There were many times when I was homeless, but I thought that all of that was part of the process of traveling without a break, so I trained myself. Traveling without a break is a lot of time spent alone. There were difficult days when I had to walk all day, and days when I couldn’t even say a word. However, during those times, I had more conversations with myself and grew by relying on God.
Since I went on a trip to Europe to see architecture, which was my dream, I visited buildings that I really wanted to see and feel. There were so many great buildings in the world, and they taught me every moment. I thought again about how important experience is as I felt the thoughts and spaces of architects that I couldn’t understand just by looking at pictures.

Q. Lastly, what would you like to say to young people who are planning a gap year?

A. No one can replace the experience of a gap year, but if you take that time without a clear purpose, you might feel like you’re falling behind others. A long three-year break from school. During that time, my friends settled into society. When I returned to Korea, I was just a student who was three years behind others. But since I did everything I wanted to do during those three years, I had no regrets and was able to return to my daily life.

The moment I stepped foot on the airport after finishing my free trip,
I said, “The world has really not changed, but here I am changed.” I don’t know yet how that change will affect my daily life. However, I think that in 10 or 20 years, I will be able to look back on those experiences and continue to grow. I always tell people, “If you think you will regret doing it and regret not doing it, then do it and regret it.”

I am sure that the challenges you take on in your 20s, the most important time for your growth, will remain in your memories for the rest of your life.