I had two years off between graduating college and starting physical therapy school. They weren’t traditional gap years since I didn’t know when graduating from Cornell that I even wanted to be a PT. Instead, I wanted to be a journalist and while living abroad my first year out of college, I found a gig at a radio station.
With ample time to think about my future and after realizing I wanted a more stable career, I began to think about going back to school. I had had PT in high school and the profession was always popping up on the “Top 10 Best Jobs” lists my dad sent me during this time. I did a LOT of research as the year went on, and decided to pursue a career change.
My second gap year was spent working as a PT Aide, returning to school almost full time to complete my pre-reqs, and applying to PT schools!
I began PT school at 24, and was two years older than about half my class at Columbia. About a quarter of us were coming off a gap year or two, and the remaining 25% or so of the class had between 5-20 years in a previous career. This number varies a lot depending on the DPT program – some have tons of older, non-traditional students, while others consist almost entirely of 22-year-olds.
While two years isn’t much of an age difference, at times my fellow gap-year-takers and I did feel a little more mature and experienced due to our (brief) time working in the “real” world. Besides that, nothing really separated me from my classmates. When I’m 65, I don’t think I’ll care that I’ll “only” have been a PT for 38 years instead of 40. The time off from school didn’t mean I forgot how to study either. If anything, it gave me a much-needed break and allowed me to reexamine and perfect my study habits before starting my DPT program.
My gap years were exactly what I needed, so if you need some too, take them!