no longer working what does it take for
us to see that the current model needs
to be redesigned for me it took 12,000
heartbreaking conversations with
students to fully understand how badly
our model for educational transitions
needs to be overhauled I visit with
entire high school graduating classes
and I ask them two questions first I
asked them who’s excited about
graduating from high school moving on to
university or college 10 hands go up
did I ask them who’s anxious about
graduating from high school
moving on to university or college 200
hands shoot up during one-on-one
conversations with students I ask them I
say tell me what you love to do what
takes up your time on the weekends and
what makes you feel good they tell me
things like I love learning about
different cultures and I love making
videos or you know I feel really good
anytime
I help my friends through difficulties I
say great what do you want to study
after high school and far too often they
slump their shoulders look down at their
shoes and they say oh you know I’m gonna
do engineering cuz got to make money or
well my parents they have to do
something practical so I’m thinking
either medicine or law and they go from
being so excited and enthusiastic and
optimistic to saying here’s what I need
to do if I want to be successful rather
than seeing post-secondary as an
opportunity to explore their interests
and to build important skills to many
young people today see it as a means to
a financial and social end rather than
pursuing an education with a sense of
purpose – many are pursuing it out of a
sense of obligation so given the reasons
for being on campus should we really be
surprised to hear that 65 percent of
students report feeling overwhelming
anxiety and 45 percent report major
depression should we be
shocked to hear that students generally
are disengaged and uninterested in their
education when I went back to school at
the age of thirty to study psychology I
had learned through time and experience
that I was fascinated by human
motivation achievement and relationships
I was very curious about the research
that we studied and I was very engaged
in the lectures unfortunately most of my
classmates didn’t seem to share the same
sense of excitement in each of my
courses I would show up to the lecture
hall and I would take my seat in the
back of the room and I would sit there
for three hours and see students all
around me shopping online chatting on
Facebook and streaming sporting events
they would of course take a moment to
jot down a few notes anytime the
professor mentioned that something would
be on the exam but suffice to say they
were far more interested in getting a
good grade than they were in learning
anything of value sadly this is more the
rule than it is the exception today too
many students attend classes not in the
pursuit of knowledge but in the pursuit
of the status quo their striving for
that all-important piece of paper the
Diploma that they believe is their
golden ticket to a successful career and
a happy life and their suffering the
consequences but they don’t have to I’d
like to introduce you to Michael Michael
is currently finishing up his first year
at University where he’s studying
business at the end of his first
semester Michael had managed to maintain
a perfect a average a remarkable feat
for anybody in their first semester at
university but even more impressive when
you consider that Michaels average when
he left high school was a B and anybody
thats been a university knows that this
jump in grades in the first semester is
exactly the opposite of normal this is
Kate Kate is currently executive
assistant and Media Relations
Coordinator at an intellectual property
firm she got the job after bravely
applying to an ad she saw on social
media and skillfully articulating the
value that she could bring to that
company in an industry in which she had
no previous experience
Kate’s developed a skill that all
successful people master an ability and
a willingness to push her cell
outside of her comfort zone on a regular
basis she’d be the first to tell you
that until about a year ago she wouldn’t
have had the confidence to pursue nor to
perform in this new opportunity and this
is Josh josh is also finishing up his
first year at university where he’s
studying computer science and psychology
not only does Josh do well in his
courses but he finds people and
experiences outside of the classroom
walls that help him explore his
interests and implement his strengths
during his first semester in University
Josh taught English online to students
in China at 6 a.m. every day 6 a.m.
every day and then went to a full day of
classes that ladies and gentlemen is
called purpose these are impressive
feats for young people in today’s world
a world where 14% of students drop out
of university before the end of their
first year and 40% of recent university
graduates are underemployed and here’s
the thing Michael Kate and Josh are by
every objective measure ordinary they
have no greater in challenge
intelligence no greater access to
resources than the majority of young
Canadians the one way in which they are
extraordinary is that they were willing
to stray from the well-worn paths they
are innovators and their willingness to
try something new enable them to build a
sense of confidence and purpose that few
of their peers enjoy they’re among the
minority of students who made a
deliberate decision to step off the
academic treadmill for a purposeful gap
year during their gap year they explore
their own interests values and strengths
and they came to better understand how
they could make use of their unique
talents to improve the lives of others
around them so the question is then if
the benefits of a purposeful gap year
are so great why is it that so few
students are choosing this path the
answer is that everything they’ve seen
and everything they’ve heard since the
age of five has been pointing them down
a linear path from elementary school to
high school to post-secondary education
to a successful career and a happy life
we push them along this path because we
know that statistically those who
achieve a post-secondary credential fare
better in terms of economic and social
outcomes in the long run the problem is
that we all know that the path to true
success is anything but linear the
problem is that we now know students on
this academic treadmill are suffering
mental health consequences at an
unprecedented level the problem is that
no one seems to be actively encouraging
young people to build their confidence
self-awareness and adaptability outside
of campus walls
well not nobody actually since 1973
Harvard University has offered every
admitted student the opportunity to take
a purposeful gap year in their offers of
admission they say we think you’re great
we’re accepting you to Harvard
obviously you’re pretty talented we’d
love for you to come and study with us
here however we’d prefer if you didn’t
come next year we’d prefer if you took
the year to go off and work travel
volunteer go out into the world and
build a sense of purpose and gain an
understanding of why you want to study
and then join us the reason we offer you
this opportunity is because over time
we’ve seen the benefits to this program
for young people they come to campus
more engaged they perform better
academically and they actually have
greater long-term outcomes in terms of
career and life satisfaction I’m not
here to argue against the benefits of
higher education I think we’re
incredibly lucky to have the wonderful
system that we do I am however here to
argue for purposeful education and the
kind of purpose I’m talking about
doesn’t magically show up at your door
just because you happen to have finished
the 12th grade so we’ve heard some of
the benefits to students in taking a
purposeful gap year we now know that one
of the most prestigious universities in
the world actively encourages this
practice but the question remains why is
it that so few students are choosing
this path and the answer I believe lies
in what psychologists would call
irrational beliefs irrational beliefs
are unfounded values attitudes and
opinions that we hold that are
sync with the way the world really is I
hear a rational beliefs from parents and
students about gap years all the time
and I wanted to share the top three with
all of you tonight I think you’ll find
that you relate to them parents
irrational belief number one if my son
or daughter takes a year off to work
they’re going to love making money so
much they’re gonna get sucked into the
job market they’ll never be able to go
back to school
anybody heard that one before show of
hands okay I won’t ask who’s thinking it
right now so the next question for
everyone is who here knows anybody who
loves making minimum wage exactly
me neither in fact but the reality is
that students who choose this path to
work for one year after high school
before post-secondary will most likely
be making minimum wage if you ask people
that have taken this path more often
than not they’ll tell you that
understanding what life looks like at
minimum wage for one year was exactly
the kind of motivation they needed to
return to their studies once they knew
what it was that they wanted to learn
about furthermore the American gap
Association in 2015 conducted a survey
that highlighted ninety-two percent of
students who take an intentional gap
year returned to their studies full-time
the very next year
parents rational belief number two if my
son or daughter takes a year off from
school they’re going to completely
forget all their study habits they’re
gonna lose their academic momentum and
they’ll never be able to go back anybody
anybody
guilty as charged yes thank you for
being honest I’d like to introduce you
to Rachel Rachel is a high school
dropout she left school before
completing the 11th grade we’ll just say
she wasn’t feeling it at the time I
guess
what’s she up to now 25 years later
rachel is currently the director of an
academic success program and a large
university not bad for a high school
dropout right if you’re thinking
yourself well
obviously J she had to go back to school
to get that job you’re absolutely right
she did when she was ready for it she
got her high school diploma then she
went on to get her undergraduate degree
and not too long ago Rachel completed
her PhD in psychology she’s the perfect
example of why a sense of purpose and an
understanding of why we’re studying is
far more important for academic success
than the ability to recite the periodic
table of elements
so that’s the parents what about the
students far and away the most popular
irrational belief I hear from students
on a regular basis is if I take a year
off I’ll be a year behind thank you for
joining me in on that one some other
people have heard that before too so
what’s funny about that first of all is
the question is what exactly are they
gonna be falling behind on and the
answer as you likely know is simply the
status quo and what’s ironic about it is
if you ask anybody who has ever taken a
purposeful gap here they’ll tell you two
things number one they’ll tell you I
know it seems like a long time at the
age of eighteen but trust me one year
it’s just a drop in the bucket number
two my gap year was without a doubt the
most transformative period of my life I
learned so much about myself in the
world around me I built a sense of
confidence and adaptability that enabled
me to pursue the things in life that are
actually meaningful to me and I wouldn’t
be the same person today without it so
those are some of the irrational beliefs
I hear from parents and students on a
regular basis that I believe are making
purposeful gap years prohibitive to many
students there is of course one more
glaring reason why more students aren’t
choosing this path and that’s simply
because we haven’t offered them many
meaningful options and that’s why three
years ago I set out to recruit an
incredible community of educators
teachers mentors and coaches to help
more young people gain access to the
benefits of a year experience through
experiential learning self-discovery and
skill development in our program every
student
travels and completes a community
service project over the course of the
year they also receive individual career
coaching on a monthly basis and they
meet up for weekly workshops where we
help them build the most important
career and leadership skills for their
future but most importantly over the
span of the year our students have the
opportunity to learn from and to network
with an inspiring community of over 100
mentors mentors who advocate for
diversity and inclusion in the workplace
mentors who have one Stanley Cups in
participating in the Olympics mentors
who have lost their life savings to fail
businesses and gone on to build new
thriving companies mentors who have
moved their family to another country
for a better future mentors who have
taken traumatic events in their own life
and use them as fuel for future growth
and development and mentors who dedicate
their lives to helping young people
implement meaningful social change the
positive impact of this kind of
community on our young people cannot be
overestimated our mentors share a number
of important character traits
perseverance optimism and generosity
among them but if I had to choose one
trait that I thought best characterized
the collective identity of our mentors
it would be courage courage to
continually push themselves outside of
their comfort zone and to live authentic
lives courage to admit when they’ve made
a mistake and to take responsibility for
fixing it courage to put up their hand
and say I agree the status quo may not
be the best way I’d love to help build
something different like our students
our mentors have no special powers they
have character and they have purpose
like our mentors our students have
courage and I’ve learned over the past
three years just how hard it can be for
young people to choose something
different to stray from the status quo
and to step off the academic treadmill
it could be very hard but like so many
things in life that are hard it can also
lead to incredible fulfillment I think
nobody articulated this sentiment better
than one of our mentors Scott Robertson
Scott is an indigenous rights lawyer
here in Canada and one of the most
purposeful
professionals you could ever meet he
gave our students a workshop on critical
thinking a number of months ago and
during the workshop Scott told us about
his gap year nobody is coming to the end
of high school he knew he wasn’t ready
to go to university so he decided to
plan a year-long trip to Australia and
while planning his gap year Scott went
around and he asked 20 of his friends if
they wanted to go with him every single
one said no so he went off on his own
and he told us during the workshop that
in the 25 years that have passed since
his gap year every single one of those
20 people has come back to him and said
I wish I had done that with you we need
to help our young people avoid this
future regret we need help them pursue
an education with a sense of purpose we
need to help more young people live with
a sense of confidence self-awareness and
adaptability the Michael Kate and Josh
live with today and if I had to choose
one quote that I thought best captured
the essence of the work that we’re
trying to do it would be Howard Thurman
who said ask not what the world needs
ask what makes you come alive and go do
that because what the world needs is
people who have come alive and I like to
say that a purposeful gap year is not a
guaranteed one year journey to success
but this one year is the start of a
lifelong journey to significance we need
to strive to help our young people come
alive believe me it’s a very fulfilling
journey thank you [Applause]