The gap year—a year off between high school and college— is growing in popularity among high school graduates. Many students are postponing their college education to study abroad, perform community service, travel the world, or make money. A few recent Grady graduates decided to take the road less traveled, taking gap years to pursue interests or decide what step they want to take next in life.

One 2013 Grady graduate, Rachel Citrin, is participating in a gap year program called The National Security Language Initiative for Youth. This  program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is a merit-based scholarship program that allows high school grads to spend a year  overseas and learn the language and culture of their temporary home. Citrin is currently staying with a host family in Oman and learning to  speak Arabic. After her gap year she will enroll as a freshman at Emory University.

“I am very interested in the Middle East, so the opportunity to learn Arabic and live with a host family sounded amazing,” Citrin said.

Citrin attends Arabic class every day and Middle Eastern History and culture classes a few times a week. In addition to attending class, Citrin has  immersed herself in the culture.

“[My host family and I] meet with family members, go to the beach, shop, cook and travel to different places,” Citrin said. She has gone to many    places including Dubai, Nizwa, Jebel Shams, and Bahla.

While she has learned a lot about the Omani culture and the Arabic language, Citrin said she has grown as a person as well.

“Most importantly, though cheesy, I have learned to be confident in myself when facing difficulties,” Citrin said. “I am learning so much about  Omani culture, Islam and about sharing my culture with others.”

2013 Grady grad Jessie Black decided to take a gap year to figure out what she wanted to do after high school.

“I had a lot of personal problems in my senior year of high school, and I didn’t think jumping straight in to college would be a good idea,” Black said. “Plus, I had no idea what I would do there, so I decided to take a year off.”

Black spent three months in South Africa, where she volunteered in townships coaching sports.

“I went farther away from home than I’ve ever been, I’ve had experiences most people can’t say that they’ve had, I’ve made friends  from all over the world, and have gotten to make a difference in peoples’ lives over there,” Black said.

Black chose to go to South Africa because she wanted to travel and make a difference helping people.

“I spent so much time around people with absolutely nothing, and yet they’re still some of the happiest people I’ve ever met,” Black  said.

Although Black doesn’t know what exactly she wants to do, her gap year has helped her determine what direction she wants to go.

“My gap year has been an amazing experience, but it’s actually slightly pushed me away from wanting to go to college,” Black said. “It  made me realize that there are a lot of other options out there, and that even though I do intend to get a degree in something at  some point, I still might hold off for a while.”

Although Grady graduate Reilly Lerner knew that she wanted to attend the University of Georgia and was ready, she decided to take a gap year to travel to Spain with a study abroad program through the Council on International Educational Exchange. She was also hired by the program to write a blog about her year in Spain. Lerner has been in Spain since September and plans to stay until May.

“I’m taking daily Spanish grammar and conversation classes as well as doing volunteer activity, cultural tours and of course hanging out with friends,” Lerner said. “I went to Morocco with a cultural immersion program and lived with a host family there for two nights, and had meaningful conversation with local students about politics and religion in the U.S. versus Morocco.”

Lerner intends to major in psychology and study Spanish in college. She wanted to travel to gain new experiences and perspectives,  and thought that living in Spain would best help her become fluent in Spanish. One of her goals for this year is to take the Diplomas  of Spanish as a Foreign Language test, which she described as the Spanish equivalent of the TOEFL test, which measures ability to  speak and write the Spanish language at the university level.

“My host family doesn’t speak any English so I was forced to speak Spanish to communicate,” Lerner said. “I have another family  here now. I feel like it’s important in order to grow emotionally, to travel. To miss home. It makes me appreciate the times with my  family much more.”