Our friend’s teenage daughter just came home after spending a year in Peru as an exchange student. She had taken what the Europeans called “A Gap Year”. She left after her SPM to join the exchange program. So, she would be going back to school to do her sixth form, a year later than her peers. Her parents are extremely supportive of her decision, in fact, they are the ones who were instrumental in getting her to apply to the exchange program!
Some people may think it’s a waste of a year as she will be graduating and getting out to work a year later than her peers. But, I think the experience she had as an exchange student in a foreign country is a fatastic learning adventure for her. She might have learned about South America’s history and geography in the classroom and have seen the beautiful pictures of the Andes in the text books or dreamed about a Machu Picchu travel. But, nothing beats living in a foreign land for a year while trying to learn a new language. The experience certainly opened up her eyes and mind to many new and exciting things.