Something I want to study is the effect of community service as an alternative gap year on high school graduates' propensity to (1) become more civic-minded, (2) neutralize or reverse the trend of political polarization, (3) enter a career of public service, and (4) prepare them more for college.

Some of these are really squishy concepts to test for. But I'm only in the idea phase. If I really let my imagination run away with itself, then the future holds me studying the effects of expanded national community service opportunities at the same time that a future president or interested Congress surveys potential options to solve the issue of access to affordable, or tuition-free, college. In exchange for a sacrifice on the part of a young person, tuition at a public university is reduced or waived entirely. They'll look at what I'm doing and think, "yo, let's run with this."

I recently reread Atul Gawande's fabulous essay from 2009 called "Testing, Testing" where he looks at historical examples of sectors of the economy that were strangling the country, and how in turn the government responded to it.

At the start of the twentieth century, another indispensable but unmanageably costly sector was strangling the country: agriculture.

I encourage you to read the essay, but the short answer is that the government funded a slew of pilot programs to see what was most effective. I'm resuming undergrad this spring semester, and structured community service is what I'd like to study.