To gap or not to gap: Should you take a gap year after undergrad?

Dear future kinesiology graduate,

To gap or not to gap? That is the question.

Whether or not to take a gap year is something that anyone planning to pursue more schooling after undergrad will eventually have to face. I certainly did.

What is a gap year?

A gap year is typically a year-long break between educational programs (after graduating from high school or a university program) taken in order to deepen one’s personal, professional, and practical awareness. Just because we refer to it as “The Gap Year” doesn’t mean it has to be that short. Gap years can range in length from a few months to a few years (or more!).

In this post, I’ll be specifically referring to the gap year between undergrad and grad school.

What can you use your gap year for?

No two gap years are alike.

There is really no right or wrong way to spend a gap year. At the end of the day, you have the freedom to structure your gap year however you want. It’s all about what you (not someone else…) want to get out of this experience.

Gap years can be spent gaining work experience, saving up for school to minimize student loans, travelling and gaining experiences that expand your view of the world, or even just as a recharge period between academic experiences. All of these have one big thing in common: The chance to explore and better understand yourself and the world around you. It’s your chance to grow as a person outside of the structure that school provides.

Been there, Done that

My decision to take a gap year was mostly intentional and partly fueled by a lot of uncertainty. When I graduated with my Bachelor of Kinesiology (BKin) from the University of Calgary in 2017, I did have the idea of eventually pursuing my masters. However, something in my gut was telling me to take time away from university to gain work experience in the field. At the time, I was a little naive in thinking that I would be able to find employment related to my degree fairly easily. I quickly learned that was not the case.

I will be extremely honest here and say that this was a difficult year for me. School has always been something I greatly enjoy – I love learning, I enjoy working hard and being rewarded with good grades, and it was an extremely comfortable environment for me to be in because it was so familiar. Up until this point in my life, school was what I knew best. I’m sure many people can relate to this.

I officially started searching for jobs a couple months after graduating, but had no real luck. I had a couple interviews here and there, but no positions were ever offered to me. In fact, it took an entire year of job searching (on and off) until I was eventually hired as a personal trainer. Why was this the case? To be upfront: I had very limited knowledge on what I even could do with my degree, didn’t know a thing about job searching, had terrible interviewing skills, no real connections in the field, and very limited experience. Looking back now, this was a recipe for frustration and disappointment.

During this year of endless job searching, I was working full time as a server at a pub. Although I’m extremely grateful that I was able to pay my bills and afford to do what I enjoy outside of work, I truthfully felt a bit of shame being in this position. Not because there’s anything wrong with the job I was doing, but because I had (frankly) worked my ass off for the past 4 years and had nothing to show for it besides a piece of paper from the University with my name on it. I often found myself thinking: “Why won’t anyone hire me? I have volunteer experience! I got good grades! I worked so hard for 4 years of my life and this is where I end up? Lost? Maybe I should just go back to school for nursing.”

Please (and this is IMPORTANT) know that if, like me, you struggle to find a full time job related to your field shortly after graduating: This. Is. Normal. There should be no shame in this. However, this has since made me a huge advocate for setting yourself up for success before graduating.

If I could go back in time, I would still choose to take a gap year between undergrad and grad school. In fact, I’m proud of pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. As frustrating as it was initially, I have zero regrets in my decision. Within the 1.5 years between finishing my bachelors and starting my masters, I:

• Learned what job searching (outside of part time employment during school) was truly like
• Learned (the hard way) the value of experience and connections
• Eventually found work as a personal trainer, which allowed me to experience what working in the field full time was truly like before returning to more school. Personal training was not a job I initially wanted, but it gave me a ton of insight into what I do and don’t enjoy in a job, as well as how to work with *real life human beings*
• Was finally able to take some time to recharge after spending my entire life in school
• Was able to work full time to save money for grad school
• Got the opportunity to travel, which allowed me to experience different cultures and expand my view of the world

None of this would have been possible without my decision to take a gap year.

Finally, once starting the Master of Kinesiology (MKin) program, I found that having practical experience in the field to relate the concepts and theories to from class was extremely helpful. I will say it here and I can guarantee that you’ll see it come up time and time again as a common theme in these blog posts: The real world is not a textbook. Understanding theory is one thing, but being able to apply that knowledge to real world settings is a whole other story.

My good friend, grad school classmate, and YKM Mentor extraordinaire Kim took a different route: She went straight from graduating from undergrad to starting a masters in the same year. Here’s a snapshot of her experience:

“Up until my last year of my undergrad, I was set on applying for school of dentistry in Canada. I had taken additional science courses throughout my entire kinesiology degree and wrote the DAT (dental aptitude test) to apply during my final semester. Long-story short: I did not get accepted. Having worked so hard over the previous four years, this made me feel like a failure. However, during this hardship, I had the opportunity to complete a practicum in my final semester that made me realize how much I enjoyed exercise physiology and teaching people how to use exercise as medicine. I spoke with my practicum supervisor and she advised me to apply to continue schooling back in Canada… So, after a quick google search for kinesiology masters programs over a lunch break, I applied for a Master of Kinesiology (MKin) degree in Alberta only weeks before the application was due. I was informed that I was first on the waiting list if someone didn’t accept their offer... and voila! I was admitted to the program starting in the Fall.

In the end, it was an unconsciously conscious choice to not take a gap year. The thought of taking a gap year didn’t sit well with me, which was likely due to the mental preparation for multiple years in dental school previously. I wanted to “go go go” so that I could have enough time to build a career quick enough to take leave eventually if I wanted to start a family (such wishful thinking).

In a way – I had a gap summer! I lived away from home after graduating from undergrad and travelled/worked in B.C. Being alone for most of the summer, I was able to spend a lot of time with my thoughts and what I wanted to do moving forward, which I found extremely valuable for personal growth.

I felt confident and eager going into the first year of my masters and was able to keep my momentum from my undergrad (something I felt was a benefit of not taking a full gap year). However, the MKin program was much less structured than I was used to. Being a student-athlete during my undergrad forced me to have a set routine from 8AM-10PM (practice, workout, classes, part-time work, busy weekends). I believe this helped offset the burnout I could have felt right away with continuing my studies. Eventually, that feeling of being burnt out did catch up to me, but I believe it was more of a feeling of frustration towards how challenging academics can be.

I definitely had a proud moment knowing that I would have a masters degree by the time I was 23 years old (turning 24 that year). WILD! Sure, I was starting my life “earlier” than most, but I have come to learn that there is no longer a set path to follow once you graduate high school. Graduating earlier in life may have given me the benefit of being more energetic to work longer hours and propel me further into my career by the time I am some of my colleagues' age, but in the end… it doesn't matter! Besides, being “young” in the field comes with its own drawbacks. I would often be viewed as having little experience. When finding a job post-grad school, I ended up taking a kinesiologist position with minimal pay because, even though I had a great deal of volunteer and practicum experience, I still did not have any work experience (other than TA’ing) in the field of kinesiology. I couldn’t list paid experiences to market myself up to employers.

One disadvantage I felt coming into my master’s degree without a gap year was the age difference/maturity/lifestyle between my colleagues and I. As silly as it seems, this is probably what impacted me the most. It was a harsh adjustment. It felt like transitioning from middle school to high school where I was on top of the school hierarchy and then all of a sudden I was down at the bottom as the youngest with little experience and less maturity. It made relating to my classmates a struggle. This feeling might have also been a result of doing my undergrad at a school in the US… Hard to say. Little do my colleagues know, they were all mentors to me and helped shape me into the person I am today.

If I did choose to take a gap year, I likely would not be writing this blog… not only because I would not have met my lovely colleagues, but because I am not sure I would have stuck with my kinesiology passion. I likely would have continued to pursue dentistry by reapplying. I don’t at all regret my path. I do, however, wish I could tell myself to try to get more experience in the kinesiology field during my undergrad or summer months.

In the end, I feel like choosing to take a gap year (or a few) to build yourself and your experiences will not hinder your career/academic/personal life path. Life is long, and you don’t always have opportunities to take gap years later in life. I would say it can be helpful in many ways, but it is not a necessity. If you feel strongly about a certain path you want to follow, don't psych yourself out into thinking you're too young. Just go for it! Apply! Travel! Take the job! Change degrees! Your late adulthood is full of changes, big decisions, and trying to figure out who you are (PSA: you will never stop learning about yourself). If you think that taking a gap year will help provide clarity to you then go for it!!”

The pros and cons of taking a gap year

Weighing the pros and cons of taking a gap year can be a good starting point for your decision. These, like anything in life, will vary from person-to-person. If you’re currently unsure about what to do, I would start by creating your own list. Below, I’ve provided some common pros and cons.

Pros

1. Personal growth and increased independence

Gap years can provide you with the opportunity for self-reflection, personal growth, and exploration. This may look like gaining new skills or exposing yourself to different cultures through travel. Gap years give you a change to step outside of your comfort zone and gain some perspective outside of the structure of academia. Having gone through this experience can increase your independence, which may also lead to improved self-confidence.

2. Enhanced career opportunities

Gap years can provide you with the opportunity to gain experience in the field, whether through work, internship, or volunteer opportunities. That’s not to say that you can’t gain this same experience during your studies (you absolutely can and should!), but taking time away from school can allow you to put more of your focus into this. Gap years can be a time to build up your resume, gain meaningful connections in the field, and may even give you a competitive advantage when applying to grad school programs.

3. Time to plan and save

Sometimes we get lost in the hustle and bustle that is school. Taking time away can give you more time to reflect on your next steps and avoid rushing into making a decision. Not being in school can also give you an opportunity to start working full-time, which can give you more time to save for future schooling and reduce student loans if needed.

Cons

1. Delayed academic/career goals

The most obvious disadvantage of taking a gap year is that you’ll finish your education later in life. This can be a pretty big deterrent for a lot of people, especially if you plan to pursue more schooling past grad school (ie- medical school). Something to keep in mind with this con is the common saying that “life is a marathon, not a sprint.” There’s nothing wrong with finishing a little later in life.

2. Lack of structure

No one said that gap years are easy. A lot of people thrive in the structure that school provides and the world outside of academia is often much more uncertain. Loss of routine, for most people, is jarring. If you’ve never experienced life without school, it can be a difficult transition.

3. Loss of momentum

Taking time away from school, especially if for a long period of time, can make it hard to get back into the swing of things once you return. Gap years have the potential to make it more difficult to get back on track to achieve your academic and career goals. Some people may even delay returning to school because they’re now more comfortable with the routine they’ve built outside of it.

With all that said…

Do I recommend you take a gap year? Absolutely.

Am I a little bit biased? Absolutely.

Ultimately, whether you decide to take a gap year or not comes down to your personal goals. If you do choose to take one, what you do with it is completely within your control. The world is your oyster, as they say!

If you’re feeling unsure about whether or not to take one, my biggest piece of advice would be to trust your gut – just make sure that your decision isn’t driven by fear of the unknown. School, with all its structure and familiarity, is a comfortable place to be in for most people. The good news is that it will always be there if/when you decide to return to it.

If you have any questions or are feeling lost and just need a little advice, we’re here to help. Reach out to the YKM Mentors at any time and we all wish you the best of luck with your current and future studies!

Sincerely,

Your Kines Mentor