Lots of students take a mental health day at some time during the school year, but senior Sam Brewer will be taking a year off from school to explore other interests.

“I think if I had to go do four more years of schooling I would just get so fed up with it,” says Sam. “I’ve spent too much time sitting in a classroom learning about the world that I kind of just want to go out and see it before I have to go do more of it.”

Sam is planning a three part trip, which includes him travelling and hiking in the Colorado Rockies, Utah, and Patagonia with the High Mountain Institute for the first few months. He then will travel to the Amazon rainforest in Peru, where he thinks he will be working at a biological research station. Finally, Sam will pack his bags again to will work on host farms throughout South America, spending a few weeks on each through the WWOOF organization, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

The WWOOF organization will allow him to immerse himself in the daily life of a farm worker and see what it feels like. “It’s a good way to get exposed to a new culture because you live in a house with a family. Hopefully I’ll learn Spanish better, which is going to fun,” says Sam.

After his gap year, Sam will be attending Lewis and Clark College, where he has already been accepted and deferred.

“I want to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life,” says Sam. He hopes this year of exploration and engaging in new cultures will help him figure it out, and allow him to learn in a non conventional way about subjects that may never be taught in school.