Educational choices and the transition to working life appear to be critical events related to adolescence in the life course. Previous research has produced information on how social and cultural expectations and fulfillment determine the agency of young adults. ln this article, we examine the agency of young adults who have spent gap years before the transition to higher education. The main concept of the research is agency in the life course. Twenty-eight young adults who had spent planned or unplanned gap years after upper secondary education and before applying to or entering university were interviewed for the study, The interviewees had taken part in activities organized by the KorkeakouIustartti project. The aim of the project was to support decision making related to career choice and applying for higher education. The data were collected during the years 2019-2021. Utilizing the modalities of agency, we analyzed how young adults experienced themselves through a multifaceted dynamic of power, desire, feeling, competence, ability, and fulfillment. The results showed that potential is built from individual experiences of agency, but also from social expectations that limit agency. ln particular, restrictive fulfillment appeared to be both an obligatory compulsion of labor policy measures, but also an internalized cultural expectation.