Interview by Anna Nickerson
Photo: Lucia (left) on the campaign trail in Northern Virginia!
It is a common misconception that in order to take a gap year, you must travel abroad extensively. Many students choose to forgo travel-based programs and focus on other opportunities, such as Gapper Lucia Poggi. Lucia just finished up her gap year, which consisted of career-centered work in the U.S. as well as independent travel. Gap Year Solutions recently spoke with Lucia and asked her about her year. Lucia’s experience serves as an important example that not all gap years are “One Size Fits All.” Independently planned gap years take time and careful attention to plan. Keep reading to learn more about Lucia’s gap year and the advice she has for potential gappers!
Tell me about yourself and your gap year.
I am from Richmond, Virginia and I went to the Hotchkiss School, a boarding school in Connecticut. I deferred my admission from the University of Chicago in order to take a gap year that combined some of my interests. I am really interested in political campaigning, so I wanted this to be a big part of my gap year.
Originally my parents were actually open to the idea of a gap year, but they didn’t want me to do a program. They felt that because I’m now an adult, I should plan my own experience and live where I want. When I started planning my year, the timing worked out perfectly because it was during midterms season. I worked in Northern Virginia on a political campaign for someone aspiring to be in the House of Representatives, 10th district. I wanted to do some resume-building and get real work experience in political campaigning. I lived in a house with fellow Hotchkiss alumni, whom I found through our alumni app.
In the Spring, I traveled to Bonair, a small Dutch island in the Carribbean. I lived and worked there for 3 months. 3 days out of the week, I volunteered for a turtle conservation organization and during the rest of the week, I waited tables at a local restaurant. I also did a lot of scuba diving, which was great.
Photo: Lucia and friends scuba diving in Bonaire
What skills do you think you learned on your gap year?
I think the work experience in political campaigning provided me with a lot of professional skills. More specifically, I learned how to structure and organize my time during my entire gap year. One big challenge I had was that the elections ended in Mid-November, but I didn’t go to Bonaire until January. This left me with a couple months of unstructured time, so I wish I had maybe been more productive during those months in Richmond.
I also learned how to live alone and with fewer people than I’m used to. At Hotchkiss, I was constantly surrounded by friends, roommates, and my classmates. There was always an opportunity to be around other people, but my gap year forced me to be with only a few people or even by myself. As an extrovert, I think this was a really important skill for me to learn especially in preparation for college.
How did Hotchkiss support you in your decision to take a gap year?
Hotchkiss was very supportive and encouraging of my decision to take a gap year, among other students who also chose that path. Out of my graduating class of about 172, somewhere between 10-12 students chose to take a gap year before attending college. Compared to my middle school, which was a K-12, I felt much more supported by Hotchkiss to take a gap year. Some schools can make you feel like an underachiever for taking a gap year, but that wasn’t the case at Hotchkiss.
Why did you decide to take a Gap Year? What got you interested?
A lot of people at Hotchkiss actually take gap years, so that got me interested. I felt that it would be great to do a lot of things on a gap year that I couldn’t necessarily do once I’m in college or working in my professional career.
I was also feeling burnt out from school. I couldn’t get excited about signing up for classes and I knew that if I took a year off to re-evaluate, I would thrive much more at school.
Photo: Lucia and her brother traveling on her gap year.
What was the biggest challenge on your gap year?
Definitely the unstructured time between the Fall and Spring sections of my gap year. Even though I learned how to manage my time better, this was challenging. If I did my gap year again, I would have planned more in between then.
What advice do you have for someone who is planning on taking a gap year?
Make sure you talk to people who have taken a gap year! I also think you should get a good balance of productivity and fun and doing things that you actually want to do or are interested in, rather than just doing things that look good on a resume.
