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#Increased confidence in relationships #Friendships with people from various nationalities #The joy of experiencing a new culture
*An actual participant in the gap year program took part in this interview to introduce the gap year to more people.
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Strongly recommended by Korean Gap Year participant Jung Ji-won 👏👏👏
Study English stress-free and have fun in Cebu, Philippines — that''s it!Top value! Learn English safely in Malta in the Mediterranean!Recharge with warm love from children in Hanoi, Vietnam |
“After spending a nine-month gap year, it feels like a book of my life was written."
When I was young I grew up like a model student to meet my parents'' expectations and naturally entered engineering school. I studied harder than anyone and even ranked first in my department, but strangely a part of my heart was always empty. Even with all that effort, I wasn''t sure if this path was truly mine.
I eventually began pursuing a new dream — music — but the walls of reality were higher than I expected, and when I felt the limits of my talent I fell into deep despair. Then, during counseling with a consultant, I heard the words "love and expression must be filled," and that phrase pierced deep into my heart. When I confronted the inner self I had been avoiding, I burst into tears and at the same time felt a refreshing release and an odd sense of trust. That''s how I decided to go on a gap year.
When I arrived in Cebu it still didn''t feel real. I hadn''t used English at all since the college entrance exam, so talking with foreigners felt very unfamiliar. But being in situations where I had to naturally get along with friends from Japan, Vietnam, and Taiwan actually helped me a lot.
The Filipinos'' bright and friendly personalities embraced me when I felt out of place, and when I first met the children at an orphanage, following a Japanese friend I volunteered with, I felt what it was to be ''loved'' for the first time. I taught the kids how to fold laundry, and they gratefully took out and handed me their saved snacks — their pure innocence moved me to tears.
While talking with a local actor friend I met there, I suddenly realized something. I had been hanging on to singing even though I thought I couldn''t do it, and maybe the reason was that I wanted recognition and encouragement from someone. The moment I faced that truth, the lingering attachments in my heart slowly faded, and after that I felt much more comfortable when singing.
The three months in Cebu built up my confidence, and I headed to Malta. But when I arrived, there were many Westerners and a wide range of ages, so at first I felt intimidated. What was most unfamiliar was the way relationships worked — they would approach even strangers like friends but quickly become distant again, and it took time for me to get used to that.
But at some point these casual relationships began to feel comfortable to me. Keeping distance in relationships gave me the space to focus on myself. In class, my European friends didn''t hesitate for fear of being wrong and spoke their minds honestly, which left an impression. The teachers didn''t simply say something was wrong but suggested, "It might be better to say it like this," which expanded our thinking, and thanks to that I gradually became less afraid to ask questions.
My experience in Malta helped me become much more comfortable with English. I realized this when I saw myself having natural conversations with European friends in Vietnam. Instead of prepared sentences, small talk that popped out of my mind flowed surprisingly naturally.
And the children I met in Vietnam smiled genuinely when I approached them with sincerity. Their unconditional affection — liking me as I was, without calculation or expectation — was so warm. In Korea this kind of pure feeling is sometimes called being a "pushover," but I think I had been craving that kind of relationship.
Korean society has too many supposed right answers for life. Whenever I chose to pursue music or to drop out, I was asked "why?" and I grew tired of those questions and sometimes lost confidence.
But living abroad with diverse people made me realize that if you can take responsibility for your own life, no one can say you''re wrong. People from other countries accept each person''s choices as natural and respect that those choices are their life.
That''s when I realized: the path I choose can be the right answer in my life just by being my choice.
The gap year was like a book to me — a story I can take out and read again, scenes I can recall at any time, and lessons that make me resolve anew. It was a time that completely remade my life.
Capturing the growth journeys
of our participants.
