In this week’s episode, I am sharing the audio recording from a recent Facebook Live event that I co-hosted with Debbie Schwartz of Road2College. Debbie and I spoke with Jane and Jason Sarouhan of J2Guides. You might remember them from episode 16 on my podcast. During our conversation, we talk about the reasons why it might make sense to consider a gap year for the fall of 2020. With all of the uncertainty on college campuses right now and the possibility that students may be starting the fall semester online, a gap year, or even a gap semester, might be a great option. While a gap year experience might seem unlikely right now due to travel restrictions and social distancing, there are actually quite a few gap year opportunities available right in our own back yards and virtually. Jane and Jason do a great job of answering our questions about budgeting for a gap year, how to choose the right gap experiences and how we can help our teens transition back into college after completing a gap year or a gap semester. Even if your teen hasn’t been considering a gap experience, it’s worth your time to learn more about it.
About Jane and Jason Sarouhan
Jane and Jason Sarouhan are the owners of J2Guides, a gap year counseling service. They put student agency and affordability at the forefront. The myth about not being able to afford a gap year and that it has to be a really expensive experience isn’t true. Jane and Jason will dispel a lot of myths that people have about gap years. They have spent their entire careers in experiential education. They have over 45 years of experience between the two of them.
Jane and Jason both took gap years during their college careers. They didn’t really call it back then but many people did something like that, taking a diverging path as their next step in adulthood. Both Jason and Jane had experiences that invigorated their passion for learning and education and both had really formative mentors. It was those mentors that guided them through the experience, people to look up to intellectually, politically, spiritually, that saw something in them and believed in them. That led them both to look to see what opportunities were out there for them to be in that role for other people. So in their twenties, both Jason and Jane, not knowing each other yet, both started guiding and instructing programs in cross-cultural immersion, bringing students abroad to other countries, to do community service-based work. This was mostly in rural and developing countries. This led to Jane and Jason both going into administration and directorship of gap year programs, and then about 10 years ago they started gap year counseling. In the last decade, they have each worked with several hundred students.
Episode Highlights
- Top Reasons People Choose a Gap Year
- This is Not a Typical Year for Choosing a Gap Experience
- Gap Time is Meant To Be a Bridge
- Customizing a Gap Year
- Colleges with Gap Year Policies
- Realistic Gap Time Options For the Coming Year
- Plan Out Three Scenarios for Gap Experiences
- It’s Not Too Late To Start Exploring Gap Experiences
- There are Gap Experiences for All Interests and Budgets
- Creative Budgeting for a Gap Experience
- College Credit During a Gap Year
- Taking a Gap Year While in College
- Transitioning Back to College After a Gap Year
- More Ideas for Virtual Gap Experiences
- There’s Never Been a Better Time To Consider a Gap Year