My name is Micah Weis, and I live in 67 (the name of our house). I think one reason why I decided to join Dynamy is because I really did not want to go straight from 4 years of high school to 4 more years of harder school. I needed a break.

When I found out about Dynamy and what they offer; from social living skills, living on your own, working in an adult scenario,having real bosses and hours, I was sold. I think the most appealing to me was working and living on my own.

Dynamy offers tons of different jobs. For me, I really enjoy working on cars or using my hands. I found 3B Auto and learned so much about cars.  The second semester I tagged along at 290 Auto Body with Justin to learn the business side of owning and running a shop. In just 5 months I got a huge head start on what I want to do when I’m older. I don’t think I would get that experience anywhere else.

Another great part about Dynamy is living on your own. Because of COVID, the Dynamy staff has a much tighter grip on us that I’m sure previous years didn’t, but still allows us to do what we want. Living on your own is not the easiest thing. Adapting to living with people other than your parents is hard. Doing the dishes, laundry, and keeping your room clean are all things that need to get done in order to keep a clean and livable space.

Now that I had some time to think about it, COVID was also a prime reason for me to take a gap year. Zoom and online classes are just not for me and this offers a great second option. I would definitely recommend a gap year to those who are thinking about it. Taking a year off and going to a new place to learn skills you NEED for college doesn’t sound bad at all. I’ve been to sleep-away camp and never really had an issue living on my own, but re-learning the information is super important, and you even learn the second time around.

I think adjusting to city life was definitely hard at first and maybe even a culture shock coming from a suburb of Chicago. I’m lucky enough to have a car which makes things easier but also hard. Parking is harder, and driving, in general, is harder before you get used to the road design. I’ve never been to Boston but I’ve always wanted to go and that’s on my list of things to experience before the semester ends and I return home.