 This is a hot take. I think that every single person alive should take a gap year. I am only as successful as my last report card. Hi everyone, we're in the car today and we're just gonna go drive around going to go pick up an acai bowl because If I don't eat an acai bowl at least once a month, then I actually die. So that's what we're doing. That's fine. Okay, I gotta pull the seat all the way down. When I drive I'm really short. I'm like 5'2". I have to pull Really close up there, but I have to pull the seat all the way back down when I film because Otherwise, I would be like this close to the camera. I got my playa bowl. Isn't she cute? Okay, I I'm just having like a self-care day. Like I just I love I'm sorry. I'm also I'll probably see this when I'm editing. I'm gonna be like Katie. That's gross take it off But I'm wearing like so much Vaseline right now Does anyone else get to like that point in the year? We're like it literally doesn't matter if you wear chapstick or not even chapstick because I know there's a conspiracy theory about that But like if you wear something like like a chapstick any time of the day, but it just doesn't matter At all because your lips are just always tapping. That's that's my story. Yeah, I went to playa bowls It was fun. I was in the parking lot and Like I grew up in this area So it was just like there were all these like teenage girls just like laughing about something and like I don't know whether people do this or if it's just like because of past trauma But like anytime I see a group of like teenage girls laughing about something. I'm like what did I do? And this week I wanted to film a chill video because I just have like a lot of stuff on my mind Hi, if you are a college student this year and you are living at home or you're a gap year student or You are you know just a person who's thinking about taking a gap year I really just I want to talk about it. First of all, I was if you haven't watched this channel before and you're new to this Video, I was supposed to be living in Scotland this year for the whole entire year I was gonna be studying abroad in Edinburgh, which was Look, I'm gonna put pictures of Edinburgh like it's my dream destination It's literally like out of a storybook. It's gorgeous. I I was just like I was so Incredibly excited and then the pandemic hit and that was a really sad time for sure When I started this year, I did not want to take a gap year like and what's even funnier is Last year for like the whole year. I was in like one of the Like the some of the biggest classes this past year of my major So it was like I was really grinding and which I love by the way Like I love that side of my life and I love school and like I don't say that like in a Like I don't know. I feel like teens always try to be like like school sucks like high school sucks Yes, but like once I got to college like I Truly love college like I love the classes that I've taken in college. I just and The idea of like not being there in person like just really deterred me Just not the way that I like to learn because I learn during the in-between I learned when a professor is like You know telling us about a thing But then they tell us a personal story and we get off on a tangent and you know People are saying random things in class and raising their hands and like joining in discussions like that is how I Like to learn that's like that is the core of why I love schools So that's why I decided to like take my gap year and Um With all of that out of the way, yes, okay, so I'm I'm on this gap year and now we're in months Like I guess I would have started school in August So it's like month three of like really not doing anything or month two. I don't know it's been two or three months Maybe three months Okay. Well, let me just tell you how I spent my summer. I spent my summer applying to Like five or six different internships and jobs and trying to just like put myself out there because In my head. I was like there is absolutely no way that I can sit around this year like It's kind of crazy that that was my my first thought because it's so this is what's so strange. It's like Okay, yes, COVID sucks, but having the ability to take off an entire year of your life That's gold like but it's just so funny Because this whole entire last year. This is what I was trying to say earlier I kept on saying like everyone in my life I kept on like if my dad or my mom called me this I was so excited For my year in Scotland as like my year off so like every time I would call someone I'd be like, oh my god Like mom like I'm just I'm so excited like I just feel like I need a year off Like I just need a year to travel and like be a kid because like I am the type of person that like I put So much pressure on myself and it's it's self-inflicted like my parents are not helicopter parents at all Like if that if I got a bad grade in high school, which like I wasn't a bad student Like I was a good student like I would beat myself up like I was the one that was like killing myself so it's It's just very interesting that like I was just I kept on saying like I just I just needed this year off. I oh Getting too heated. I just I really wanted like be able to be a college student because You know, I was always jumping into something new to sort of distract myself like my freshman year I found that I had so much free time. So I got a part-time job and Then my sophomore year I got an internship and I was just like always just like going and going and going So I was like so much looking forward to this year off Which I think is just like so ironic that I ended up like really getting a year off And if you're watching this and you're like I don't know if I should take the next semester off or if I should go back like I obviously can't make that decision for you Oh, and if you're like a high school student wondering if you should take a gap year This is a hot take. I think that every single person alive should take a gap year here Here's my thing I I feel like it's more of a common thing like in Europe that people just like take a year off and travel like that's Just not a thing that happens in America like not so much at least maybe not in my area like in my area It's very much like you go to high school. You apply to college. You go to college and like that's it Which I think is a very narrow worldview Which is so interesting because this area is so like well educated. I think that's so many people could Gain something from a gap year because I have had to fill my time. I Have had to like really fill my time and I actually this is to if you're like an online student because you're gonna have to Fill your time this year too. Well, I was talking to my friend the other day And she was like you just seem like so good Because we talk about like my existential panic like all the time like I am such a warrior I am such like a panicked Person Like that makes me sound really bad like I'm no I'm really fun like I'm a great girl but like just the undertone of my life is just that I am so panicked about like doing well in school and getting internships and like grinding and like doing you know like all these things and And it's so strange. This is the first year of my life Where my success has not been determined? By a grade Right I feel like I can't I don't think I've ever put that into words actually just before this very moment Because I am only as successful as my last report card It's not like when I go back to school like I'm not gonna give a crap about my grades That's not it. It's just that this year. I have had to really focus on What's gonna make me happy? Beyond getting a grade or beyond Planning for my future because I can't plan anything one Two, I don't really have a physical thing to define my success So it's just it's allowed me to like really explore what it is that makes me happy And what it is that makes me me and I think that I had lost that for a little bit in college the first couple of years because when I was in high school I did a lot of theater and Inquire and like all all that kind of stuff I did dance for a while, too But beyond that like having that creative outlet like I did not realize how important that was to me I still I started doing YouTube, but having a creative outlet again has given me so much purpose and I don't know if I like fully hammered the point home, but like I just truly think that everyone should take a gap year because I Think that this is kind of weird coming for me because like I was a kid who in high school knew exactly what they wanted to do in college Which is not super common and I'm aware of that, but I think that just a lot of people could benefit from like Taking some time off and thinking about like what really matters in life And what they want to do and what they're willing to like spend their money on Because college is really expensive and if you don't love what you're going to school for you don't You know or if the school that you're going to for what you want is like so much money and it doesn't match up with like Your aspirations like sometimes you don't have to go to the you know the craziest most expensive elite school To get and crack into the field that you want to so it's I think a lot of that gets put into perspective And when you're 18, it's like you're just looking at labels and you know, you're just trying to fit in and it's just like You know, it's just like anything else. You just you want to be perceived as successful, but Like at the end of the day, you have to make decisions for you when I filmed my first YouTube video I drove to a parking garage across the street and I drove to the sixth floor because I didn't want people to see me and A car drove by and like I turned my camera off like put it away. I was so scared of someone seeing me