Who Attends Gap Year at SOAR?

When is GAP?

Ready For What’s Next

All GAP at SOAR participants stay in a setting that allows them to experience real-life responsibilities in a real-life setting— interacting with peers, cooking meals, doing laundry, organizing their space, and planning for their next trip.

The GAP living experience is designed for participants to gain competencies around living accommodations in their next stage of life.

Plan Your Expeditions

Participants decide and plan where their expeditions will take them and what activities they will participate in on the trips. This gives them ownership of their experience and makes each year new and unique. Activities may include rock climbing, backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, rappelling, rafting, fishing, hiking, exploring national parks, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, hot springs, riflery, and wilderness skills. The destinations are open to much of the western United States and also include one international trip in the spring. The group will have the opportunity to explore areas around them such as Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Thermopolis hot springs, and rock climbing in Sinks Canyon. Expedition locations may include Grand Canyon National Park, Oregon and California coast, Glacier National Park in Montana, and Moab, Utah.

Expedition planning taps into the whole world of executive functioning. Students research several travel destinations and activity options. They then make phone calls, set up reservations, work with a budget, provide the gear and food logistics, and learn to deal with the many unknowns that come up when traveling.