You may hesitate about taking a gap year, worrying that you may lose your mental alertness and adversely affect your studies when you do finally get to university or college. But this doesn’t have to happen. It’s possible for you to study during your time off, not in the concentrated way you did in high school, but taking courses or having learning experiences that concentrate solely on your own interests and desires.

There are multitudes of possibilities, some of them involving volunteer programs in which to participate. For example, if you’re interested in working with animals, then you could spend a few months at a koala sanctuary in Brisbane, Australia. Then you might fly over to Thailand to help with an aid organization. Or perhaps you’d prefer to enroll in a short art and design program in Ghana, or further your art studies in Italy. Many of the gap year websites like www.gapyear.com have links to programs like these. Some also include discussion forums where people post information about these opportunities while others share tips and information from experiences they’ve already gained from their own gap year travel and work.

If you know what sort of study or volunteer program you want to get into, then you can do some research to discover what’s available. Above all, check to see if you will need any particular qualifications to be accepted into a program. For example, if you need to learn certain skills before working in an animal rescue organization, then you’ll want to find out in time to acquire them. You should also check the discussion forums on sites like www.gapyear.com or www.gapyearworldwide.com to learn about the various organizations from others who have worked with some of these groups.

You may decide to study the Mandarin language in China, take art courses in Italy, or volunteer in Africa. With the wide range of educational opportunities that are open to you during your gap year, you don’t have to worry that you’re going to lose your mental edge. While you are learning things that feed your soul and engage your greatest interests, you will be keeping your mind active, so that you can return to your regular studies without having lost a single step.

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