From Tokyo to Barcelona, students are taking a break from school to explore the world next year..

One example is Noah Glassman. Beginning this summer, he is going to work in national parks in Peru and Chile, then spending a few months in the European Alps to ski and work at a ski shop in Austria.

“I think a gap year will help me set my priorities straight and I’ll be able to nail down my interests when I’m alone and nobody is picking what I read or write,” he says.

After his gap year, he will be attending Middlebury College in Vermont and has already deferred his admission until 2019.

One Brazilian exchange student, Rean Mouallem, will not be coming back to the United States. First, he’s going to back to Brazil in June to spend time with family and focus on his favorite sport, volleyball, then he will travel to Lebanon in September to sharpen up his Arabic, landing finally in France in December.

After that, he will enlist in the Brazilian military.

“Both of my grandfathers were soldiers,” says Mouallem. “My dad always says that he regrets not joining when he had the chance. So next year when I turn 18 I want to enroll and serve my country for a year.”

Guido Rahr, another senior, is taking a year to explore and adventure.

“For as long as I can remember I have been going to school, and now that I have the chance to take a year before college to do whatever I want, I’m going to capitalize (on it),” says Rahr.

He plans to travel to Russia, Mongolia, Europe and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. After his gap year, he will attend the University of Vermont.

Max Crever, is going to Tokyo for two months, as well as traveling through London, Amsterdam, Madrid and Rome.

“I just needed to get out of Portland and experience culture outside of America,” says Crever.

Another soon-to-be Lincoln graduate, Keaka Wilson, is going to study neuroscience at the University of Tokyo this fall.

“I chose to study abroad for the culture change. I had been to France in eighth grade and thought of it as a great change in learning environment,” says Wilson.

By contrast, Hope Hanzlik will begin her enrollment in the U.S. Army only eight days after graduation. She will undergo nine weeks of boot camp and 28 weeks of training to start off her four year contract with the military. She hopes to become a Nodal Networks Operator.

“I’m responsible for keeping communications open between people in the field and those on base. I work with cyber security to keep everything safe and running,” she says. “I didn’t like how my life was going and I decided the military would be a good way to straighten me out.”

Stella Wiswall is choosing to become an au pair for a year in a town in Germany called Euskirchen. An au pair stays with a host family and helps take care of their children, in exchange for room and board in an interesting new country.  

“I love working with kids and it will be a good opportunity to learn more and gain childcare experience. Additionally, I’m really interested in German culture and really want to improve my German language skills.” After her year of being an au pair, she hopes to study American Studies and Education at The University of the South in Tennessee, otherwise known as Sewanee.