A case for taking a year to travel.
It’s a Tuesday morning in January, and I’m on top of Mount Kilimanjaro, nearly 19,000 feet above sea level. Along with a group of 17 other students, I’ve spent the last eight hours climbing through the night, weathering a spontaneous blizzard to reach the summit. It will be difficult to forget the feelings of simultaneous excitement and exhaustion in this moment–amplified, of course, by extreme oxygen deprivation. This is what my gap year before college has been all about: pushing myself to discover new heights, push my limits, and learning new things about the world and the ways of the wonderful people living in it.
And it’s a year I almost didn’t dare to take.
Gap Year? What’s That?
I’d never considered taking a year off between high school and college. I even waffled after I was awarded the Morehead-Cain Program scholarship from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mainly, I feared I’d miss out on college social life and fall behind.
But as I weighed the decision, I started to consider how culturally specific that fear was. Taking one or multiple years off before formal education is ingrained in the cultures of many countries around the world. A 2018 study from Denmark’s Evaluation Institute (EVA) showed that 86% of students starting their education had one or more “sabbatical years” beforehand. In countries like Australia, New Zealand, and England, the phrase “gap year” is just part of the vernacular.
Gap years enable students to better understand their passions, values, and the life paths they may want to pursue before committing to formal higher education. Where I’m from in Florida, however, many people wondered if the main reason I didn’t plan to go straight to college was that I didn’t get in anywhere “good.”
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Madelyn Malin
In reality, I was burnt out from high school and the college application process. I knew I was interested in studying public health, but I was unsure about where my academic path would lead me. More than anything, I wanted to see the world while I had the chance to do so.
A Fraught Time to Leave
I knew I was stepping out into a world more fragile than ever.
U.S. borders were tightening, anti-American sentiment simmered, and programs that were once vital to America’s soft power–like USAID and AmeriCorps–were being gutted or eliminated altogether.
In that climate, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised that some young Americans felt hesitant to travel beyond our borders. But it’s crucial for us to show up and represent the best of us. To listen, to learn, and to be thoughtful representatives of what our country can be and who our people are.
Since graduating high school in June 2024 and ending my gap year in June 2025, I visited every continent except Antarctica. I got my advanced scuba diving certification in Fiji while learning about the threats to coral reefs, interned at a biotech/public health hub in Cape Town, and motorcycled the Ha Giang Loop in Vietnam.
As a young woman, it’s empowering to learn that I’m capable of thriving in uncomfortable and new situations outside of the American bubble. I’ve learned that my potential is shaped by my willingness to embrace the unknown and learn from it.
Madelyn Malin
Before my gap year, I always felt that I was trying to fit myself into a certain box or category. I could either be a preppy sorority girl or a crunchy outdoors adventurer; I could be a book nerd who grinds out college or a social butterfly who puts all her energy into partying with friends.
This year has made me realize that there are more gray zones, and I can be whomever and whatever I want to be. I can travel completely by myself, even if I am “only” a teenager. I can spend my time researching coral reef destruction or at a youth hostel in Australia’s Gold Coast. I can conquer the peak of one of the tallest volcanoes in the world.
Many Americans carry the notion that the world is a dangerous place. I was given countless warnings: Don’t go to Cali, Colombia, you will get kidnapped by the cartel! Don’t go to Tanzania, there are terrorists! But I’ve learned it’s a knee-jerk reflex. Though safety is always a number one priority, if I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that you’ll find incredible people, culture, and hospitality worldwide. A Brazilian doctor took my friend and me to the hospital after a surfing incident; my Fijian hosts showed us the art of clapping around the kava circle.
As much as we perceive the world to be dangerous and unruly, and as cliché as it may sound, getting out there taught me that most people just want connection, kindness, and, sometimes, a little bit of adventure.
Growing as You Go
Taking a gap year isn’t about escaping the pressures of home. For me, it’s been about gaining the insights necessary to be the leaders this country’s future demands and deserves.
I think that when young Americans dare to step outside their bubbles, they return with a broader view of what is possible. They don’t just see problems, they see solutions that some countries are exploring. In a nation where youth will undoubtedly play a central role in healing America’s divisions, it’s crucial that we gain this perspective.
Madelyn Malin
Having the privilege to explore my interests and passions in unforeseen ways has deepened my passion for public health and given me firsthand insight into global healthcare systems.
I visited a Brazilian public hospital to obtain a yellow fever vaccine, spent time in a Tanzanian public hospital when my friend got seriously ill on Kilimanjaro, and interned for a public health nonprofit in South Africa. I also underwent emergency gallbladder surgery in Cape Town. The private hospital provided exceptional care–easily on par with the U.S. –but I learned that had I gone to a public facility, my experience would’ve been drastically different. In Tanzania, my friend was denied treatment until we paid the doctors 100,000 shillings ($41) in cash. The nurse wouldn’t start a simple IV without a bribe. Once transferred to a private hospital, the care and condition improved dramatically. While the U.S. system has its flaws–particularly in cost–it does guarantee emergency care regardless of income.
In South Africa, I received seven days of high-quality care, IV antibiotics, and surgery for under $10,000, a fraction of the U.S. cost but still far more than many locals can afford. These experiences revealed the challenges and inequity of healthcare systems worldwide–and fueled my commitment to driving change when I settle down and study this fall.
My gap year provided this invaluable global perspective, solidifying my passion for public health even as it is under threat in my own country.
And I’ve become more confident as a young woman and received more clarity not only about what I want to do with my life, but about the type of person I wish to become.
Heading to college this fall, I’ve carried with me a new energy and purpose I don’t believe I could have gotten in the classroom alone. The world is bigger than any one campus or institution. And a journey always starts with stepping outside the familiar.
