By now you have heard about gap year and you have to admit you are intrigued. But is taking a gap year just before you goto college the right choice for you? Here are a few reasons.

Spend a week at the Seven Teacups Waterfall Camp. There are more than 70 clean waterfalls in the area. Your parents are going to love your photos and videos. Wahoo!!!

10. Taking a break may make you more productive? It’s not actually a break but it is a change from the “school system.” Research has shown that gap students are more likely to graduate college. The semester off kind of gets the lazy bug out of your system as you mature.
9. Learn Spanish. How cool is it to learn Spanish by speaking with your host family, negotiating your river shuttle, and speaking with Chileans your age.

Click here to learn more about “Chile Gap Year.”

8. Earn College Credit. New River Academy is an affiliate of the Seattle Central Community College. Through this program you have a pay/credit option for your Spanish course.
7. Discover your academic niche. So you don’t know what your career direction is. Well that is a big deal and that alone makes it hard for you to be motivated. The gap year addresses career options as you gain new perspectives.
6. Are you ready for college? Do you know how to study, schedule your time, wake yourself, budget, and cook. The gap year places you in an environment where you begin to work with peers planning group budget, meals, and learning how to live on your own.
5. You love to kayak. The Andes mountains are the second largest mountain range in the world. Melting snow flows west a couple of hundred kilometers to the Pacific. Hmmm, melting snow + gradient + short distance = OMG! I love to kayak Chile!
4. You’ve always wanted to learn photo or video. This is the time and the place. Video and photo courses prepare you within a new professional skill to earn money. That’s right many of our students immediately begin working for commercial companies making $$$.
3. You realize you need to mature. OK so you don’t care about making money, school, or career stuff. Trust us… that will come later. For now, let’s have a few discussions about what are your career and school options.
2. Gain a new perspective. The point is that you will gain more from your gap year than in any single year of university. Many students only begin to realize how much they learned and experienced during the university and career years after the gap experience.
1. Fun, fun, fun. A Georgia high school athlete survey asked, “What is the number one reason you participate in high school sports? The answer was not to win or to be a champion. The number one answer was, “to have fun.” Chile’s Patagonia is simply fantastico. You will make Chilean friends that will last a lifetime and explore in ways beyond your imagination.

It’s “Easy to Apply.”