Projects
|
FAQ
|
Announcements
Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
Back to ListBack to List
54th Gap Year Participant (Gapper)Lee So-hyun
Gap year period: December 2015 ~ February 2016
Backpacking across South America (Ecuador - Peru - Bolivia - Chile - Argentina - Brazil)
Currently, South Korea,
Each year, 60,000 middle and high school students drop out, 346,000 people in their 20s are idle without dreams, and the one-year turnover rate after employment has entered the 40% range,Seventy-five percent of university students are not satisfied with college life, and more than 80% of workers do not feel happy.Many people tell them to dream, but to solve this problem that lacks practical methods and support,we aim to introduce the 'gap year' in South Korea.
'Gap year (Gapyear)'is a time to pause or balance studies and work and engage in various activities such as volunteering, traveling, internships, education, and entrepreneurship,to set the direction for the future. It is a culture encouraged in the United States, Europe, Japan, and elsewhere.
# Become the change I want to be, even if only for a day — The beginning of my gap year
During a world geography class in my second year of high school, something sparked tremendous interest in me: the Uyuni Salt Flat. For no particular reason, the descriptions "Earth's decalcomania" and "the largest mirror on Earth" struck me deeply. Questions like "How can a desert be made of salt instead of sand? And how can there be a white desert?" lingered in my mind for a long time with a fresh shock.
But faced with the reality that we have to enter university and build our credentials, my interest in the Uyuni Salt Flat seemed to come to an end as time passed. However, while I was living the involuntary life of a job seeker, I began following the posts of travelers I admired—people who didn't travel as tourists with just a suitcase and limited time, but set off with a backpack containing only enough to make a living and their youth, without time limits.
I used to think only professional travelers like Han Bi-ya or people from wealthy families could dare to leave like that, but that was a rationalization born of my own lack of courage to even consider becoming such a person. As people say travel is a matter of the heart, I only admired others and indulged in modest daydreams about what I wanted to do myself—I never actually tried to make it happen.
I realized that my high school imagination of the Uyuni Salt Flat—which I thought I had closed with a period—still remained in my heart as a comma.I hated myself for always wanting to live differently from others yet struggling to become just like them, so to take control of my life at least once, I prepared to take a leave of absence and undertake my own gap year.
# Cost is the biggest worry, but don't give up your gap year because of money
Many people considering a gap year will worry about costs. In my case, I've been curious since childhood about places beyond the world I knew and dreamed of going there someday. So from my first year of university I saved money little by little—not a large sum, but steadily.In my first year I volunteered as a faculty assistant and educational aide in the department office for work-study, and in my second year I saved the scholarship I received as a campus ambassador by intentionally not getting a debit card and leaving it in my bank account. After deciding to take a gap year, I took a leave of absence and covered the remaining costs by working part-time.
But now that I think about it, it seems you can take a gap year with only a fairly average amount of money. In my case, because I traveled alone to South America as a woman, it cost more than average, but if I had only had an average amount, I would have realized my own gap year adjusted to that.So I hope people won't give up on their gap year because they think they need a lot of money or because of problems caused by money.
If you don't go when it's time, you won't be able to go when you want. Now is the best time!
After deciding to take a leave of absence, when I first told my mother I was going alone to South America to see the salt flats, she strongly opposed it, calling it nonsense. But I really felt it had to be now. So whereas before I might have vaguely explained why I wanted to go, this time I persuaded her with reasons why it truly had to be now.
I realized that even if I graduated smoothly and was fortunate enough to find a job quickly, that wouldn't be the life I wanted.I thought that once I'm in my thirties with a family, a spouse and children, I'll inevitably have to focus only on work. Of course, I could pursue my current dream later and accept some compromises, but I felt that now—when I am young and only responsible for myself—is the best time for that youth to shine.
When I explained my thoughts, my mother understood my desperation and gave me permission. Also, when I told many people who asked why I was taking a leave that I was going to South America, everyone asked me why South America. At first, each 'why' I received in response made me anxious and scared, as if my hard-won decision were being questioned. But later, the repeated 'why's started to make me quietly pleased.
"Yes, I dreamed a dream that others wouldn't easily think of, and I'm making it happen."
I wanted to live doing something no one had ever thought of, and their 'why's—which felt like proof that I was staying true to my conviction—made my heart burn even more.So those 'why's drove away the fears that came up while preparing for the trip and made my gap year and I more resolute.
I did boldly take a leave of absence to carry out my gap year, but the drama-like story I had hoped for didn't unfold overnight. That's because for us, taking a leave isn't just pausing to earn credits—it's a self-study period where you have to build other qualifications like English and extracurricular activities. So at first I didn't have the courage to let go of everything I'd built up—my credentials and studies—and just do what I wanted.
Even though I mustered up the courage, while planning my backpacking trip in South America I kept having all kinds of thoughts in bed before falling asleep—everything from petty pickpockets to natural disasters. But when I arrived in Ecuador in South America with all those worries, I immediately got my mind back in order. Seeing with my own eyes that there was no one to trust or rely on except myself made me determined to pull myself together. So I trusted my heart, which was trembling more than my legs, and firmly believed this was excitement, not fear, and threw myself into South America.
# 진심을 통한 소통으로 생존 스페인어를 배우다
Since the main language in South America is Spanish and English is barely spoken, I had to study basic Spanish. But due to financial issues in preparing the expected expenses for the gap year and time constraints from working full-time, I gave up on language schools or private lessons early on. Instead, I watched a YouTube video called 'My Friend Sergi' whenever I had time or searched Naver's travel Spanish conversation sections to try to memorize essential words.
So at least I memorized numbers from 1 to 10 and words like thank you, sorry, yes, no. At first we could barely understand each other and had to rely on cues using only those words, but after about two weeks of listening and speaking a lot, I was able to manage survival-level Spanish.In particular, because I wasn't good at speaking, I was so grateful that South Americans made extra effort to accommodate me linguistically by communicating with drawings or gestures, which made me more eager to learn and I improved much faster.Although the language barrier caused inconveniences, I experienced sincere communication beyond language firsthand, and because of this we shared deeper sincerity and emotion with each other.
# 'It always seems impossible until it's done.' It always seems impossible until it's accomplished.
Before I left, carrying a heavy backpack and my youth, I had a goal when heading to South America."Let's step on every surface of the Earth — the sky, the sea, lakes, mountains, valleys, deserts, glaciers, waterfalls, and so on."Originally it was a 3–4 month itinerary, but lacking time and money, I spent two months trying to master this goal, traveling the hemisphere from the Earth's equator to the city that leads to the end of the world and toward Antarctica, roaming South America like my playground.
At first, the trip was meant to turn the comma in my heart that the Uyuni Salt Flat gave me into a period. Standing with my feet in the place I had imagined was truly wondrous, but when I was in that almost unreal, virtual-like space—breathing in oxygen and blinking my eyes—I thought, "I'm really glad to be alive," and for the first time I felt a burning emotion about my own existence.
I couldn't help but quietly bow my head before the greatness and majesty of nature. There, every gesture, step, and breath felt special. The saying, "Travel is not seeing new landscapes but seeing the world with new eyes," kept dominating my mind.
I really love swimming. The Galápagos Islands—about 1,000 km from the American continent and a place that influenced Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species and evolutionary theory—were the best destination of my South America trip. I went snorkeling there for the first time in my life; the water was so clean and clear, and I could see not only fish but almost all the marine creatures I had imagined since childhood.
Once, I heard a beeping ultrasonic sound underwater and looked over to see a pod of dolphins swim right in front of me. At another spot, penguins were waddling on the rocks and then swimming, and on a different rock a sea lion was making loud noises. I was carrying a GoPro for underwater filming, and the sea lion seemed to know I was filming: it looked steadily at the camera, focused on the lens, and circled around me as if inviting me to play. I really thought I had become a mermaid. The Galápagos was by far the most fantastically perfect destination for my tastes.
Of course, there were many more really difficult moments.I once did a 3-night, 4-day trek in Torres del Paine to capture Patagonia in Chile, the world's longest country. This was the toughest and most rewarding place on my South America trip: for those 3 nights and 4 days I carried food, a sleeping bag, cookware, clothes, and necessities in my backpack and had to walk nearly 100 km in total. It was the time in my life when I walked the most and endured the most in a short period.
We walked until we felt like dying; when night fell we'd squeeze into a tent pitched on a mountainside with only a sleeping bag, shivering as we slept, and if it rained at dawn we had to endure raindrops falling on faces peeking out. Carrying four days' worth of drinking water would have been too heavy, so we drank water from melting glaciers flowing down the peaks; at first we searched for clean spots, but later when we were parched we drank from shallow water even if mud floated in it because we were so exhausted.
Looking back, it was really amazing and I don't think I could do it again. But despite the hardship, it was truly worth it. During that 3-night, 4-day hike we reached three summits as part of what's called the W trek, and each of the first, second, and third peaks had different, breathtaking views. Even when I was exhausted I could keep walking to see the next peak. I understand now why everyone talks about Patagonia. If you go to South America, I think Torres del Paine is a place you should visit at least once, along with Uyuni and Machu Picchu.
They say the root of the word "travel" is hardship and suffering, right? The fatigue was more mental than physical, and except for the times I was visiting tourist sites, I spent the rest of the time agonizing alone, overcoming my own fears, and confronting the deep parts of myself. Being completely alone and standing alone in a new place at every moment was both fascinating and precarious.
But there is a quote by Gwak Jeong-eun, whom I really like,Reflecting on the saying, 'When you can be grateful for being alone, you can handle a relationship of two.'I ruminated on the words 'alone' and 'first' every moment, sometimes swallowing bitter saliva, then comforting myself with a heavy heart. To become a more complete, more perfect alone, I spent long hours talking with my inner self and struggled to learn to enjoy solitude.
After my gap year, 'WHY NOT ME? I DID IT in South America!'
Being independent in a country where English didn't work, among people of different races and completely different cultures, was far harder than I imagined, but I turned out to be much stronger than I thought. Maybe I forced myself to endure, but I still gritted my teeth. During those two months I learned and felt many precious things I hadn't known for over twenty years, from the unfamiliar experience of living with others—a life I hadn't known as an only child—to other valuable lessons, and I grew.
Through this I realized how strong and solid a person I am, and that it was not reality or society but my own narrow judgments that had bound me as weak and lacking. So whereas before I hesitated and underestimated myself when faced with a challenge,now my heart races rather than being fearful. If I decide to do something, I will accomplish it; and even if I fail, it will remain with me as experience, not as failure.
And the second thing is that through the South America trip I learned to quickly let go of things that couldn't be helped. The trip had many unexpected situations that didn't go according to plan; at first I got annoyed and felt helpless when things didn't go my way, but soonI learned to find other solutions myself and that sometimes the second-best option can turn out to be the best. Perhaps this is a lesson we really need to learn in our lives as we prepare for jobs.
After two months of stepping across the planet with my own feet, I returned to Korea healthy—tanned much darker and having gained weight in body and spirit—without being pickpocketed even once, compared to the day I departed from Incheon Airport. As a naive college girl who still likes being called pretty, I was somewhat upset about my dark skin and the fact that my weight had increased enough to change the tens digit.
But it's okay! Even if I'm less pretty on the outside than two months ago, my life has become more beautiful. I may have given up being called pretty, but now the adjective 'cool' describes my life. :)
# After my gap year, I fulfilled my lifelong bucket list!
Now I'm back to everyday life, repeating the same life in the same reality as before I took my gap year. Although the outward framework of life looks the same, the quality of life I imagine within it has completely changed. Knowing how much I struggled before leaving for South America because of the relatively limited information on backpacking there, I try to help others who dream of a gap year similar to mine by sharing the difficulties I experienced and posting information about South America on my social media whenever I have time.
Although I'm busy again with the hectic life of a job-seeking student, perhaps because I started this with a good heart, it has spread to many people like a positive virus,I unexpectedly achieved another item on my lifelong bucket list—becoming a speaker and giving a lecture that moves someone's heart—much sooner than I thought.
And I'm grateful that even this piece of writing can give hope to someone who reads it. My trip to South America was taken to fulfill one gap year, but once I became the owner of my life, that influence continued and other gap years followed in succession. I think the most important thing is whether you take that one step to own your gap year or not.
You are all working hard, walking the war-like path of job hunting in a harsh reality. But I hope you will, at least once, have the courage to walk not the path followed by the person in front or behind you, but toward where you truly want to go, creating a path marked only by your own footprints. Climbing the same stairs does not guarantee the same happiness. Don't let precious time that will never come back slip away in haste and competition.
Could the path I create be a shortcut that gets me faster to a place that, beyond employment, gives me a real reason to live?Because we are young, recklessness is allowed as boundless challenge—we are in our twenties only once—so why not listen more to the voice and resonance of your own heart than to what others say about the dreams you imagine now, and live a life that you yourself can fall in love with? Being able to imagine something is a sign that you can do it.
Please, believe in yourself and become someone who can embrace the world with a broader heart. Let's fill our youth and lives with our own gap years :)
<100 Gap-Year Gappers>
'100 Gap-Year Gappers' are not mentors who exist on TV or in books.They are stories of people who acted a little earlier and mustered a bit more courage than I did.We hope the stories of 100 people who faced similar situations and had similar concerns will offer a small help at the important decision moments in your life.
Recommendations and submissions for '100 Gap-Year Gappers' are always welcome.
Please leave a comment or message, or email our marketing manager Choi Da-young (choi@koreagapyear.com)!