Taking a year off between high school and university may seem like a waste of time to some, but for Simrani Motiani it was critical to increasing her chances of not only being accepted into schools abroad, but also of landing scholarships.

After her seven-year tenure at Campion College, Motiani took last a gap year and today is on her way to the University of New York, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates on a full scholarship. She was accepted to six other universities, and was offered scholarships totalling over US$1 million.

“I’m really interested in getting a liberal arts education, which is where schools draw from different disciplines to produce a more dynamic student. That’s not offered at local universities, so I really wanted to go abroad and study, so I decided that I was going to take the year off, improve my SAT scores and to also just mature as a person. To grow, not only as a student but spiritually as well, so I wanted to have that time for myself,” the 19-year-old told the Jamaica Observer.

It wasn’t that the Campion experience was inadequate to prepare her for college, she said, but she wanted more time to focus on making sure that she made the best decision for herself at this critical juncture in her life.

“It’s not that sixth form at Campion wasn’t enough, it’s just that as a student, especially a productive one, you get caught in the nine-to-five sort of schedule, going from school then to extra-curricular, then to homework, and tests; it’s a really big load. And it’s hard to manage sometimes. And you don’t get as much time for yourself to explore your passion and to figure out more about what your purpose is and what you want to make out of your life. At 19, it’s a lot to think about,” Motiani noted.

Before her gap year, she was undecided about a career path. Now, she plans wants to go into the field of child psychology or educational psychology.

She spent the past year engaging in a plethora of self-actualising and self-improvement activities, starting with two months in Cuba to perfect her Spanish. When she returned to Jamaica in July, she spent two months as an intern for child psychiatrist Ganesh Shetty.

“I was able to explore or go more into mental illnesses in children in the inner city where we did projects,” she said.

In September, she started another internship, this time at the University Hospital of the West Indies, working with paediatrician Professor Maureen Samms-Vaughn. She was able to contribute to various child-related studies, including a birth cohort study and childhood violence study.

Also during the gap year, Motiani started a home-based tutoring business for students who had trouble with subjects in high school, and since January of this year, has been teaching Spanish at Quest Preparatory.

Even with all of this, she had to pay attention to the main purpose of her gap year — improving her SAT scores and obtain a scholarship to an overseas university.

She credits the team at AIM Educational Services, led by Career & Education columnist and Princeton graduate Nicole McLaren-Campbell for guiding her throughout the year, which she feels put her head and shoulders above other applicants to the schools of her choice.

“I think what really helped me was this gap year. I did a lot of extra-curriculars in high school, but I think the gap year really helped me because it shows that, as a student, I am willing to take the initiative and take a different path. I did so many things that I never thought I would do in high school, like starting a tutoring business. I was [also] gaining a perspective that was something different than every high school student would have,” she explained.

Motiani thinks the gap year should not be feared or scorned, as in her research, she discovered that many college admissions officers encourage students to take the year off and develop themselves.

“The year is exactly what you make it to be. You have to work hard. You have to make it work. Not everything will go your way. There were things I wanted to do that I didn’t get to do, but you learn to make it work and make the best of it. I believe if you made the best of it, the universities will see that.

“I felt like this was my path and I followed my gut feeling and stuck with it,” she said, even while noting that she had doubts.

Motiani holds 10 grade ones at Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate, five grade ones at Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) Unit 1, and five grade ones at CAPE Unit 2. While at Campion, she was a prefect, president of Key Club, and was involved in the United Nations Club, Students’ Council, among other community service involvements.