MA grads plan gap years to explore the world

It’s a Monday morning, and you wake up, peering out your window. You see the glass waters and the beautiful New Zealand landscape. You grab your fishing poles, bait, and other supplies and head out the door, ready to enjoy wildlife and improve your skill set.

This will be a daily occurrence for senior Eirik Howland, who is headed to Norway, with a side trip to New Zealand, for a gap year this fall.

With school coming to an end students have full autonomy as they choose their next chapter. While many students have chosen a university with a set major in mind, others have chosen the path of the gap year.

Howland, Noi Anderson, and Sophia Rowland are all students who will be traveling abroad in the fall to immerse themselves in different cultures and grasp new understandings before beginning college.

Eirik’s story 

“I feel like I’m gonna be really fascinated by what I can learn about myself and others there and see how that’s gonna impact my life in the future,” said Howland.

On the contrary, senior Eirik Howland will be traveling to Trondheim, Norway for a nine-month gap year through a program called Skogn folkehøgskole.

“I found out about this opportunity through family, friends, and the Concordia language villages program, a summer program I am involved in,” said Howland.

Folkehøgskoles are very common in European countries like Norway and are gateways into the area of study or work that individuals are interested in pursuing.

“It’s almost like a trade school,

but not in the western sense,” he said. “It’s a trade school as in you learn about a thing you want to do like an elective.”

As Howland is not taking any math or science classes, that’s just one of the many things that he is looking forward to.

“I’m really excited to learn how to live alone in a foreign country and make new friends and get out there,” said Howland. “I think it’s gonna be a really beneficial experience for my well-being in my future.”

Within this program, Howland will be taking a fishing and outdoor life intensive class, where he will learn how to climb, ski, fish, cook, gather as well as how to survive alone in the wilderness. His intensive will also be traveling to New Zealand for a month for their unique fishing experience.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to expand my knowledge and experience in the outdoors with friends before going off to regular life,” said Howland.

Cultivating this love for fishing and everything outdoors, Howland is confident that this program will benefit him in countless ways.

“I think that there aren’t a lot of opportunities in life to get outside to such beautiful places on a curated program like this, especially when I’m young,” he said.

Getting to learn more about hobbies that interest him, Howland will also be able to be surrounded by the Norwegian language almost constantly.

“They don’t have a Norwegian class at my school, I want to be fully immersed,” he said. “If you go to school without an Norwegian class, you will have a higher likelihood of it being completely Norwegian emergent.”

Having the opportunity to be fully immersed in Norwegian culture, Howland will be able to learn more about himself, others, and the ways of life in an entirely different country.

“I’m really excited to get a fresh brand new start and see what it’s like to be myself out there,” he said. “It’s gonna be really nice to branch out from normality.”

Howland plans to begin his first year in fall 2027. He has been accepted at St. Olaf College but said that he may apply to other programs after his experience in Norway.

Noi’s story

“This is a chance for me to step into a new environment, grow personally and spiritually, and learn about myself while being outside of my normal day-to-day life,” said senior Nosipho Anderson.

Gearing up to take a gap year with Duolos Discovery School in the Dominican Republic, Anderson will also be stepping into a new culture and new way of life.

“The program I’m going through is a mix of classroom learning, discipleship and hands-on ministry,” she said.

Anderson learned about this opportunity while she was on a mission trip with Crossroads Church in fall 2025. As Anderson grew comfortable with the people, culture, and program as a whole, she felt drawn to return back in the future, before she had even left.

“I felt like God was telling me that was my next step,” said Anderson. “While I was gone, my parents texted me and told me they felt I should take a gap year there. It was just a full-circle moment for me.”

Although Anderson knew that a gap year was something that she wanted to do, money was a temporary setback.

“I started raising money in order to make it happen, and I actually still am,” she said.

Reaching out to people within her community, Anderson voiced why she felt called and how she felt God was going to work within her trip.

“I sent messages, had conversations, and just invited people to be a part of what the Lord is doing, whether through financial support or prayer,” said Anderson.

Throughout her search for financial support, Anderson came to a realization.

“It became less about ‘raising money’ and more about building a team of people who are walking alongside me and supporting this journey,” said Anderson.

Having the opportunity to work with youth through service projects, and community engagement, Anderson will be able to grow in her leadership and connections with the children there.

“I’m really excited to create greater bonds with the kids, as well as nurture my relationship with the adults,” said Anderson. “I’ve always loved being with kids.”

Anderson, being removed from all sense of normalcy and the routine she’s been used to, will experience challenges and chances to grow her faith as well.

“I feel like as I’ll be immersed in the Dominican culture my faith within the Lord will deepen,” she said.

Hoping to step out of her comfort zone and not rely on things that are familiar, Anderson knows her faith will guide her and be directly impacted.

“I know there will be challenges, being in a new environment, meeting new people, and stepping into the unknown, but I truly believe those moments will push me to trust God in a more real and personal way,” she said.

Her plan after she returns is to attend the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, to major in psychology and minor in elementary education.

Sophia’s story

“This has been my dream, I really just want to travel the world,” said Rowland.

Heading abroad to places like Thailand, Paraguay and Colombia, senior Sophia Rowland will not be traveling through any secondary academic institution or carrying any strict pre-planned agendas.

“Me and my friend have been planning to have a gap year for years, so I’m not going through any program, we just want to travel,” said Rowland.

Initially meeting her friend through a backpacking trip to Lake Superior’s Isle Royale, Rowland and her friend fostered a bond over time that was layered with a shared love for traveling and experiencing the world around them.

“Both of us have been traveling kind of our whole lives,” she said. “I’ve been to Thailand about three times, and I’ve spent multiple months there every time.”

As Rowland reflects on her and her friend’s memories together, she is confident in their relationship and decision to take on this challenge.

“Some of our richest memories were abroad and some of our richest memories were together, so we thought we might as well combine the two,” said Rowland.

Wanting a break from school as well as to travel, Rowland felt a gap year would benefit her both mentally and academically.

“I honestly think high school was kind of hard for us; we weren’t very good students, and so we realized we needed a break from high school before college,” said Rowland.

As Rowland knows college will test their friendship, she wants to savor the time she has left with her friend, and feels like it’s the most convenient time to do so.

“It seems like you know when people say, ‘I wish I would’ve done this thing,’ I just feel like it’s the perfect time,” said Rowland. “We really don’t want time to escape and we lose our friendship because we’re not going to the same college or even the same state.”

But as travel expenses grow, Rowland and her friend had to formulate a plan that would benefit their present wants but also future, independent selves.

“That’s obviously going to be really expensive so we are planning to go to places that are connected to our families,” said Rowland.

In Thailand, they will travel to Udon Thani, and work in Rowland’s cousin’s restaurant and café, called cafe Udara. There they will engage in cooking programs as well.

“It will be nice to initially see some family as we will be really far away from home,” said Rowland.

In Paraguay, they will stay in the same rural community that her friend‘s mom stayed in when she was a Peace Corps volunteer, called Primera Línea, Planta Urbana, and will teach English and hang out with the children.

“They are a really welcoming group and said that we are welcome to come whenever,” said Rowland.

In Colombia, they will volunteer at orphanages and possibly stop at some of the CFE locations that Rowland remembers from her 2024 school trip.

“That will be a really special stop for me and my friend as that’s where her little siblings were adopted from,” said Rowland.

Knowing that there will be endless amounts of lessons learned and moments shared while they are abroad, Rowland is also hopeful of the things that she will discover about herself.

“Maybe we’ll find our passions while we are abroad,” she said. “We have no idea what we’re passionate about.”

In January 2027, Rowland plans to begin her first year at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

As these three seniors prepare themselves for their different abroad experiences, each knows that they will be impacted and learn new things about culture, relationships, the world around them, and even themselves as they are challenged and faced with entirely foreign understanding.