Indeed, for Grace Montgomery and Riyza Jose, high school best friends who are now both college students in Florida, a gap year was a chance to lift their heads up from their books after doing a rigorous high school honors program — and to finally see some of the world around them. Via Rotary Youth Exchanges , whose programs are affordable (around $5,000 compared to up to $30,000 for some programs), Montgomery spent her year living with a host family just outside Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where she learned Portuguese and did volunteer work throughout the region, while Jose spent hers in Sweden, learning the language, taking music classes, and even playing the cello with a school band there.Both said that the year set their sights on international careers after college; Montgomery wants to join the Peace Corps, then the foreign service, while Jose wants to do advocacy work with immigrants and refugees. They also both said that, while the experience has helped focus their college work, they also find college life perhaps a bit more boring than other students coming to campus straight from their hometowns.And both say that the idea of a gap year took some convincing with their parents."My dad has never been abroad and asked why I'd want to leave the country," said Montgomery. "He also was worried that I wouldn't want to go to college after my gap year, but it actually had the opposite effect on me." Jose, too, said her parents were skeptical, but ultimately were willing to shell out the $5,000 for the program since she had already earned a full ride to college.