When to have a gap year

Typically, gap years are taken when people are quite young and in need of experiences to live before settling down for the conventional, current way of living that most of us follow later on. The path is usually to take up some studies, which take 3 to 5 years, and then applying for jobs that will build an ascending career, finding a partner and, maybe, founding a family. It does not have to be in the exact same order but you do know well what I am talking about.

You also know there are many other alternatives in which you can lead your life and they, although probably more messy, are valid as well. I am not a revolutionary nor pioneering, however I represent one of those less orthodox cases. Here is my case, shortly and painlessly.

I am Antonio. Almería, Spain, is my birthplace and the city which has seen me grow up, not very tall indeed. I have spent a third of my life studying Law and, sorrowfully, I did not reach the expected goals. But do not misunderstand me: I am optimistic. Future is bright and always full of new, unexplored and unexpected doors hidden under a carpet of fallen leaves. Just like the autumn in Warsaw.

And there, at my late twenties, I decided to suddenly interrupt whatever plan in life I could have, to travel and have my space in time, just for myself and nothing else. Yes. I am working as a volunteer at a primary school. I am doing something useful for others and for me. Even though nobody knows if I will do something else related to teaching. But this is my gap year and nothing is more relevant now than giving time for myself.

Far from originality, this is the reason of my first entry. I learnt that it is never late to twist the plot and do something out of the mold I referred to above. Being the eldest among the volunteers this year at the Schuman Foundation made me think about it and I wanted to share it with others. Then, the answer to the query raised is, simply (and I really mean it), whenever you feel like.