Unsatisfied with virtual campus life, some students find new momentum during gap year

Anthony Russell has spent much of February teaching Calgary elementary and junior high students about street art: introducing Black artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and helping them create stenciled pieces in oil pastel, acrylic and watercolour paint.

The youngsters were so engaged that some stayed over lunch and even after school just to complete their creations.

Though Russell's been creating art himself since his own elementary school years, becoming an art teacher was never on the 19-year-old's radar. As the youngest child of immigrant parents, Russell said careers he'd considered growing up typically revolved around "doctor, lawyer, dentist, engineer."

Now, teaching kids art — while he's been taking a break from studying law, crime and justice at the University of Alberta — has completely changed his mind about his earlier intention to become a lawyer. 

"It's one thing to make art and share it that way. It's another thing to have kids actually produce art and they learn from you," Russell said. "It kind of just clicked." 

Earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, the prospect of being online to start university or college led some students to contemplate a gap year.

Now, some post-secondary students who've had only virtual learning amid the pandemic are hitting pause on school and finding that time away to be productive and rewarding.

The pandemic dashed Russell's dream of university being his first major experience away from his Calgary home and family, but he embraced the online university format in fall 2020.

While his grades were fine and he was enjoying the subjects being covered, he knew by the end of first term he didn't want to continuing paying "this obscene tuition" while still logging onto class from home — or, worse, from a dorm room if he actually made the move to U of A's Augustana campus in Camrose, Alta.

After he decided to defer his second year, Russell had thrown himself fully back into making art when an opportunity arose for an exhibition at Art Commons, a Calgary performing arts centre and gallery where he'd previously displayed work. That, in turn, led to the chance to speak via Zoom with an elementary class that had seen his exhibit.

"The show led to my first [teaching] session with the Arts Commons and my second session," Russell said. Then teachers at other schools in Calgary also began reaching out.

While his mom initially "couldn't fathom the idea of me not being in school," Russell said she's come around after realizing he is working toward a goal. 

"I walked in today and she called me Mr. Russell because I was [teaching an art workshop].… She came a long way." 

In Canada and especially within different cultural communities, taking a gap year ahead of or amid post-secondary studies isn't as commonly accepted as it is in countries such as the U.K. or Australia. Stigma about it persists here, according to Michelle Dittmer, president and co-founder of the Canadian Gap Year Association.