As the year draws to a close, most seniors are looking ahead towards college, but there a few students who are looking at a year free of classes or teachers. Students choose to take gap years for different reasons, some to study, and others simply for a break. There are several programs students can use to plan a year off, but some plan the year themselves.

Senior Charlie Hartley will be taking a gap year because both of his parents and sister did and it has been something he has always planned on doing.

“Sixteen straight years of school is pretty rough, and you just need a break,” he said.

He will be spending a few months in the Rocky Mountains with a program called National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in which students participate in a variety of outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing and rock climbing. He looks forward to the program immensely.

“It’s an opportunity to experience the wilderness and nature,” he said.

Hartley has not fully planned out the second half of his year yet but he expects to travel outside of the country. He is currently considering doing a language program in France in order to get his foreign language credits before he goes to college, and World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms (WWOOF), a program in which students work on a farm in a foreign country in exchange for free room and board, offers Hartley that opportunity.

He hopes that this whole experience will give him a better sense of self and what he is interested in.

“We get very little time to ourselves in high school,” he said. “We spend so much time focused on academics and extracurriculars, so this will give me a chance to do what I want.”