Fordham University’s Career Center and Senior Week Committee co-hosted an event titled “Making the Most of Your Gap Year” on Feb. 12. The workshop series was a part of the Career Center’s annual Supporting Our Seniors spring series, which contains programs which the Career Center considers to be useful for current Fordham seniors.
The presentation, given by Allyson Blatz, FCLC ’20, assistant director of Student Engagement, highlighted the program’s primary focus. “Our first workshop in the series was preparing for the job search, talking about job search strategies relating to how to personalize your application materials, how to build out your professional network approach and interviewing,” Blatz said.
According to Blatz, there are three categories that students considering a gap year fall into: direction, adventure and earning seekers. Blatz said that many students misunderstand what a gap year is.
“A lot of students think that taking a gap year means taking a year off from school,” Blatz said. “Really it’s about taking a year on and it’s about how do you approach a gap year strategically so that you’re meeting goals.”
If students are not intentional with their gap year, they will not develop new skills post graduation, making them less competitive in the job market, according to Blatz.
“I see a lot of students who unintentionally [do] gap years,” said Blatz. “There will be students who will say, ‘well, I’m going to take the summer off and then hopefully just get a job by September.’ But then they do nothing over the summer except for vacation and lounge around.”
Programs like those hosted by Supporting Our Seniors often lead to increased student engagement with the Career Center’s services, according to Blatz. These programs can assist with being intentional with your gap year.
“We see people who (…) never knew how to schedule a counseling appointment on Handshake or didn’t know about certain resources and then took advantage of those resources,” Blatz said.
The Career Center offers these resources to Fordham students after graduating, according to Cheretta Robson, senior associate director of the Career Center. One example is a six-month dedicated counsel who can support students after graduating.
“If they are still seeking employment [then] the Career Center matches them with a counselor, and the counselor will reach out to them monthly to help them … with resources,” Robson said.
After six months, they provide a service for life, according to Robson. Sara Starace, FCRH ’26, the Senior Nights Coordinator, said she took a lot away from the event.
“I will probably be taking a two-year gap year so I thought it was very interesting and insightful to know, or to actually have a plan, or how to use your gap year to its fullest potential,” Starace said.
She mentioned taking a gap year can be scary for some students, and attending the senior events can make it a little less frightening, in addition to helping otherwise.
According to Blatz, gap years focus on cura personalis, or care for the whole person, which is why it is becoming increasingly appealing to students.
“[They] also do a volunteer or service opportunity that actually makes a far bigger impact on them than they could have imagined,” Blatz said.
According to Blatz, this gap year program was one of several in this semester’s Supporting Our Seniors series.
