Alumni News: Filling the Gap
There are so many opportunities and options to consider after graduating from Secondary School. Each one holds pros and cons, and has to be considered based on your goals and dreams. Since there is often a natural gap between graduation from Lighthouse and the start of a university year, we highly recommend having a plan that will grow our students’ minds, hearts and independence.
We asked two of our recent graduates to tell us what they chose to do in their gap year!
- Stacy Marie – An unexpected return to Lighthouse
Stacy Marie, who graduated from Lighthouse in 2024 after being a student here since Grade 5, hadn’t originally planned to return to school, at least not this school, for her gap year. Her intention was to spend the year studying Chemistry independently to improve her marks, in order to qualify for a university programme in Animal Science. Her ultimate goal is to become a veterinarian, and she hopes to begin her studies in France, where she has family and speaks the language, in September 2026. For her gap year, her plan was to focus on her studies while spending meaningful time with family before heading abroad.
But when she heard (through her cousin, a teacher at Lighthouse) that there was a Learning Assistant vacancy in Grade R, something clicked. “It felt like a good fit,” she says. “I already knew the people and the school, so coming back felt natural.” She joined the team in January 2025.
Although she originally expected the job to be challenging, Stacy describes the experience as “beautiful.” “I don’t feel just like an LA,” she says. “I feel like one of the teachers. The team has included me, and I’ve had the opportunity to learn and grow in a real working environment.” She adds that as someone who’s naturally shy, it meant a lot to her when teachers reached out and welcomed her into the staff team.
Before setting her heart on becoming a vet, Stacy once dreamed of becoming a teacher, and this year, she says, it feels like both those dreams have found space to grow. Alongside working in the classroom, Stacy is also preparing to retake her Cambridge Chemistry exam in May 2026 to improve her university entrance marks.
Stacy plans to work at Lighthouse until the end of 2025, before turning her focus to final preparations for her studies abroad.
Her advice to other Lighthouse graduates thinking about spending their gap year working at the school?
“Last year, I never would have thought I’d come back to Lighthouse for my gap year. But it offers so many opportunities to grow. It isn’t only a job, it also feels like a family. Knowing your environment makes the transition into working life much easier.”
- Cecile Dalais – A shift in direction
Cecile, one of our 2024 Lighthouse graduates, began her gap year with one plan and found herself drawn into something entirely different. While waiting for responses to her university applications in the United States, she joined a volunteer programme with YWAM Ships in Papua New Guinea from February to May. The ship-based mission provides medical care to some of the country’s most remote communities.
What started as a short-term opportunity quickly became something more. “While there, I felt convicted that I should continue doing such work,” Cecile shared. This sense of purpose led her to make a bold decision: to defer both her university start and an accompanying scholarship in order to pursue further training.
She is currently based in Mexico, participating in a YWAM training school that will prepare her to return to serve in Papua New Guinea or elsewhere, before starting university in August 2026.
Cecile’s story is an example of how gap years can create space not just for preparation, but for redirection and discovery. She adds, “I’d be happy to connect with any students considering volunteer service and spiritual formation in their gap time.”
