Maggie McGehee Wittman

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT MAGGIE MCGEHEE WITTMAN

In 2020 I was in my Senior year of high school. I had just bought my prom dress, accepted an offer from a school, and was looking forward to all the graduation activities to come. Great foreshadowing right? Covid hit right during my Spring Break and everything suddenly came to a screeching halt. No graduation, no prom, no more senior year. In denial, I declared that we would be back at school in two weeks. Obviously, this didn’t happen. Although at the time I was devastated, looking back now, weirdly enough, I am happy it didn\'t. Everyone was preaching to me that life would move along, I would go to college, and all would be fine. After online orientation, I knew I had to make a change, a realization that was scary for me; It was always college after high school so what was I going to do now? And so I stumbled into the decision to take a Gap Year. This was never something that was even on my radar, but all I knew was that what I was looking for wasn’t here. After going through options, programs, etc,(which was pretty limited due to the pandemic), I decided to go to Seoul, South Korea, and do a language immersion program. A few months later I was sitting totally isolated in my quarantine hotel room for two weeks, and I just remember thinking, “What in the world am I doing.” What I ended up doing was having one of the most fulfilling and invaluable times of my life. I walked out of my gap year with a wider global lens. A lens that allows me to see the bigger picture, analyze media cross-culturally, and realize that the world exists outside of where you are. This new viewpoint has aided me in more ways than I even thought possible. Admittedly, starting college “late” was daunting, but after taking this time of self-discovery, I felt more ready than ever. It was because of this opportunity that I was able to grab my college experience by the horns. My whole life I have been a planner, I thrived in knowing what comes next. But through my Gap Year, I realized that pivoting and changing your plans is, in fact, not a bad thing. I now sit in my second semester of senior year with a large amount of knowledge in East Asia, proficiency in Korean, and an invaluable understanding of Advertising and creativity as well. While this was not my original plan, through learning how to settle into the uncomfortable and uncertainty, I feel more successful than I ever thought possible.