Teen Service Programs Abroad: VISIONS Cambodia Gap Year and Internship Program

VISIONS could not be more prepared or proud to offer a Cambodia Gap Year and Internship Program. This bridge year experience benefits from the breadth of all we have learned over two decades working and living intentionally with young people in cross-cultural host communities.

Gap Year is a concept that came into being "in the decade following the Second World War when youth travel and cultural exchange was discussed amongst Governments as a useful tool to create more of a global understanding to prevent future global wars... the first 'Gap Years' actually started in the UK in the 1960's when the baby-boomer generation in the midst of the 'Swinging sixties' headed off to India..." (Reference)

Other countries have long recognized the sensible value of a gap year. Israeli youth have been serving two- or three-year compulsory army service before even taking a gap year. A gap year is so popular among Danish youth that Denmark has "sought to limit the number of students who take a gap year, penalizing students who delay their education to travel abroad or work full time," and in 2006 Denmark actually proposed a law that would give "a bonus to students who refrain from a gap year." Japan practices "Simultaneous Recruiting of New Graduates" by matching students with jobs before graduation."

Historically, Americans embrace good ideas that come our way and often amplify their merits in innovative ways. Such is the case with gap or bridge years for high school graduates. The merits of bridge year experiences have become increasingly and broadly recognized, and universities and colleges now look favorably on gap or bridge years. Witness Princeton University, who launched its Bridge Year Program in 2008 "for incoming undergraduates that would provide them with a pre‐collegiate enrichment year (often called a "gap year" or, more aptly, a "bridge year") before they matriculated at Princeton. The tuition‐free year is open to students who have accepted an offer of admission to Princeton and who wish to spend a year in public service abroad prior to beginning their freshman year." Our teens today can search a vast landscape of opportunities for teen service programs abroad and gap year experiences.

Teen service programs abroad and in the U.S. and gap year programs make sense. Many high school graduates these days acknowledge for themselves, on their own, that they are not yet ready for college, or at least do not feel ready. They know that college is a signal beginning to navigating one's place in the world as a contributing adult. To their credit, many youth seek a "breather" before they commit to college. Furthermore, they want this breather to have "teeth", to be anchored in the "real" world where they are free to engage fully for a short while in environments, apart from academia and pedantry, that nevertheless are as educative and broadening. Fair enough.

VISIONS has crafted a rich, challenging and broadening gap year experience in Cambodia. We look forward to our first participants taking full advantage of VISIONS Cambodia Gap Year and Internship Program.