Undergraduate / Taling a gap year: Common app question [5]

Taking a gap year after high school is a general trend among us, Budhanilkantha School graduates. And I too feel it a good thing to take a gap year. I learned a lot of things about science, nature and society in fourteen years of formal schooling. I learned about principles in physics, theories in biology and the civic duties in social science. Teachers used to say this knowledge would prepare us to lead the adult world.

The real world is full of challenge, beyond my imagination. All the areas like science, nature and living style are governed by ethics and politics. The world looks like an organized mess. People are free to speak but rarely are heard by others. The old people are full of experiences but there are hardly any youths to listen them. Books are full of knowledge but still the society is full of problems. Nothing is as perfect as an assumption in physics or theory in biology.

Gradually I learned to live with this society. I began to explore the opportunities in here. And I began to enjoy its imperfectness. I began working with the local club. Every weekend I evolve myself in community service- cleaning local park and temple, paying visits to Briddhashram (home to old and uncared ones), organizing sports events and so on. Gradually I involved myself in awareness campaigns like use of condoms to prevent HIV, sustainable use of resources, protection of natural heritages and use of alternative energy sources instead of petroleum. I joined an education consultancy, acting as an abroad study counselor. Here I have opportunity of celebrating diversity. People with different experiences and background come here seeking the advice about abroad studies. Here I have an opportunity to understand people, chisel my eloquence and nurture my leadership skills. In the mean time, I am acting as a tutor. I teach mathematics and science to a secondary school student. Being a teacher is a great thing. I learned the importance of patience, deep understanding of the subject and fluency to explain things.

I feel that I am spending my gap year in a productive ways. The techniques I am learning now will, for sure, help me in coming days. With these real life experiences, I find myself more matured every night I make the bed then that morning I left it.