Gap year program with big age gap between me and the others?

HI!

I'm taking a gap year from September onwards. I applied for a 3 month program because I've always wanted to do it and I thought it was a gap year thing as the company refer to the people as 'gappies'.

But I had a look at the people who I'll be spending the time with and they've all finished uni! I'm going to be the youngest by literally 3/4 years :'(

Has anyone been in a situation like this before? Where there is a big age gap in a program? I don't want the others to look down on me and think I'm young for only being 18, even though I'll turn 19 on the trip. Should I pull out if I'm not comfortable and lose my deposit? I don't know what's best at this stage...

3/4 years is nothing. You're not going to learn as much from a bunch of 18 year olds as you would from travelling with graduates. Make the most of it, ask for uni tips, make new friends that you might not necessarily have the chance to make back at home. Once you get to uni you'll discover that age is not as important to people as it was back in college / high school, and you might very well come across fellow students on your course who are in their 30s and above.

They're only going to look down on you if you give them a reason - and being 18/19 isn't a reason.

I think you're right, I hadn't thought of it in that way. Do you think they'll be okay with me joining them? I mean they don't exactly have a choice and I'm normally really confident and talkative. I think it's just the doubt about spending 3 months on my own with older strangers who might be on a different path of life 😂😬