A word from a college “gapper”.

The “gap year”, is that a thing, really? Never heard of it and I have been surrounded by the academic world for over 20 years. Maybe I’m coming from a different perspective.

I am the first in my family to graduate from college, the first to earn a PhD.

And believe me I had a lot of gaps. Gap months, gap years, financial gaps, grade gaps, until finally success.

In under-served communities, college is a dream for plenty of kids, realized for only a few, so we grasp it as soon as we can, before someone changes their mind, before they take back the grants, loans and scholarships.

We cannot afford gaps. Any gap may lead to a permanent gap from higher education. I can’t tell you the number of times, I have seen friends take a break, never to return.

First generation college students are more likely to drop out and if they do stay, it will take them much longer to finish their degree (The Pell Institute, 2008). The risk of a gap is just too great.

Granted, a college education is not a guarantee of success in life, but it give us a fighting chance, a leg up, a few more possibilities.

One of my biggest regrets in life are the time gaps in my academic career, it put me behind and at times I feel like I am still trying to catch up in life.

There are plenty of colleges hacks needed by first-gen college students, but a gap is not one of them.