Carolina Alumni Review - September/October 2009

But UNC students who have taken gap years say they were eager to get to Chapel Hill once their year was over.

“My gap year deprived me of access to education that we have here and really made me want that back,” Clayton says. “It just made me miss the access to knowledge and education and other people who were curious, and that’s something I didn’t anticipate.”

Then there’s money: Many students who take gap years are funded at least partially by their parents. Service providers can help find placements and travel opportunities, but those programs are normally the most expensive. A 10-week international project with Greenforce, a gap-year project provider, for example, costs about $4,200.

There are scholarships, grants and other programs students can turn to for help funding gap years. Nettleton’s program in Turkey was through the American Field Service exchange program, and she paid for it through a combination of scholarship money from AFS, help from her parents and money she raised while she was a senior in high school. Nemeyer, Farese and Clayton all worked to finance their travels. Ford, who lived with a family in Ecuador for his year, said he spent only about $20 a week.

“I really think that you can do things very, very cheaply, especially if you go to the right places,” he says. “I was a complete volunteer and in Ecuador got free room and board. My only expenses were my flight there, visas and immunizations.”

It’s probably not a good idea for a student to take a year off with no idea what he or she wants to do or accomplish or if the time has no real educational objective. And some gap-year risks are greater than others — such as choosing to take time off during the 2008 basketball season.

“Do you think the Tar Heels will win another national championship?” Nettleton asked on the phone from Turkey. “I guess hearing about that was one of my worst moments here. I’m just hoping they’ll win in the next four years.”