The Gap Year and Millennials
The Project
How to Navigate
At the top of the page, you'll see 5 sections labeled according to their content. There is no order for which to navigate through these sections as they are separate parts of a whole. Each section serves a different purpose and will be more helpful for different audiences.
Feel free to click around and explore each section separately. For more information on what each will give you, click MORE below.
The Capstone Project is meant to showcase the skills learned throughtout the Sweetland Minor in Writing. Over the course of my time at Michigan, I have taken 6 classes toward the minor and I have learned unique skills in each. From the beginning of our first course - the Gateway - I was forced to see writing in a new light. While it may seem like only parts of this project are true writing, it has become apparent to me now that every piece on this site is considered writing. One main purpose of this project is to expose myself as a writer and expose what writing means in our society today. So I have combined what I know into one cohesive project focused on the phenomenon of Gap Years and how it is playing a role in the lives of Millennials.
Why did I choose Millennials and the Gap Year? It is what's relevant to me. It is what interests me. It is what I hope to learn more about for my own personal future. And if I have learned anything as a Minor in Writing, it is to pursue your own passions, not what anyone else thinks is best for you. As a Millennial and one who is taking a gap year before pursuing my next educational step, I wanted to investigate some of the background as to why taking time away from formal education is so popular with my generation. I wasn't sure what exactly I would find or where the project would go from the beginning, but it has turned into something quite different from what I imagined initially. What you find here is a collection of thoughts, resources, and research that just begins to chip away at the iceberg that defines this generation and our hopes, dreams, and fears. Of course, we're all different, but we have some fundamental commonalities that make us Millennials.
Welcome to the site.
Sarah Clayton
University of Michigan Class of 2015
Gap Year, Spring 2015-Fall 2016
Image from Kate Keller's trip to Morocco
Image from Kate Keller's trip to Costa Rica Image by Emily Clark
Image from Kate Keller's trip to Monaco
Image from Kate Keller's trip to Morocco