Gap Year

Cant wait any longer to take a Gap year?

When one googles 'Gap Year' one sees plenty of advertisements on both the top and the side. Making this a very popular service. Upon visiting some of the services, one can discover elaborate set of packages, such as volunteering, interning, teaching at different destinations in the world. 

Gap Year though continues to remain a fad for those who can either save up and set off, or for those who can afford. Often gap year is more common amongst Europeans then amongst Americans. There is some aspect of cultural values that guides this trend. 

American youth especially after graduating from high school, are expected to leave their parents house and live on their own. Those who leave, often get a job to pay their rent and expenses. Since they just graduated from high school the best job they can get is a minimum wage job working for corporations. 

For families who have been saving for their children's education end up at University, with or without student debt. But those who cant afford also end up enrolling for community college and then University, with huge student debt. This trend is somewhat cultural in America. 

Where as in European countries, the culture of travelling is very well established. It often starts from a young age. Where as in America, the concept of travelling is more of, a short period of indulgence. This trend often remains fostered due to work culture at corporate offices.

India has a growing population of youths born after 90s in the internet age who are seeking such opportunities, though venues and those pursuing these options continue to remains low. For traditional cultural expectation is emphasized on graduating and securing a job, and thus supporting the family. 

Here we can see varied opportunities in fostering a culture of travelling, though with an agenda, or say a mission. Religious missionaries have leveraged it very effectively, can an entrepreneurial mission to save the Earth be cultivated similarly. 

With the looming challenge of Global Warming, due to established industrial paradigm, brings us to a new chasm of time and space. Where on one side ideas of travelling in space and deepest oceans are being explored, on other hand millions of years worth of fossil fuel is forcing Earth into a new epoch. 

Can GIFT city establish itself to address these challenges, by harnessing young travelling entrepreneurs in creating wealth of social form. Where the ingrained consciousness of ecology in the population become a source of new products and services which these travelling entrepreneurs can develop as they go along. 

For starters, in current paradigm we all need circulating form of exchange such as National currencies, which circulates through banks in the form of debt. Can such concept of debt be employed in financing Gap Year giving birth to new forms of Network Currencies. 

For GIFT city which is currently being considered as target for financial reforms, can it become a hub for financial innovations, which would encourage activities ushering us into newer paradigm. For amenities at GIFT city have underlying potential to pull global talent, but the question is will they come and innovate?