User:Ianholm87/sandbox

History
Gap years were first recognized in the 1960's where the young, post-war generation wanted something different than their parents generation. At first, the primary purpose of the gap year was for countries to exchange cultural ideals in the hope to deter future wars from occurring. By doing this, governments around the world opened the door to the gap year industry.

In 1967, Nicholas Maclean-Bristol created Project Trust, which sent three volunteers to Ethiopia from the UK. The goal of this was to help the nation develop, but also build their own skills. In 1973, Graham Turner innovated the new gap year industry by purchasing a bus and selling tickets to Kathmandu. This lead to Turner creating Topdeck and Flight Centre, which are successful gap ear companies today. In 1978, the Prince of Wales and Colonel John Blashford-Snell began Operation Drake which what is now known as Raleigh International, an expedition voyage around the world following Sir Francis Drake's route. The introduction of gap year companies in the 1960's and 1970's started the gap year industry. With the long term success of organizations like Topdeck, Flight Centre, and Raleigh International, the gap year industry developed rapidly.

In 1969, the first gap year organization was founded in Worcester, Massachusetts. The organization called Dynamy was founded with the intentions of teaching young people self confidence and the role they play in a large community. In the 1980's, the gap year idea was promoted by Cornelius H. Bull in the United States to allow students more time for individual growth. Cornelius saw that students needed a bridge between high school and college that would help develop more hands-on skills. To do this, he founded the Center for Interim Programs in 1980 which had goals of increasing self-awareness and developing new cultural perspectives.