The Gap Year
A Year Off Or A Year On.
It is not uncommon for high school graduates to desire a year long break from academics. Especially after dedicating 12 consecutive years to learning and education. Don’t be surprised to learn then that even Malia Obama needs a break from it all, as she prepares for her gap year before continuing her college education. The question is, how will she spend it?
It may be uncommon to take a gap year, but it’s even less uncommon to hear the warnings about a gap year. “If you take a gap year, you won’t want to go back.” This is not always the case and not always a negative choice. In fact, according to American Gap Association, 90% of students who take a gap year return to the schooling system the next year.
There are several different ways to spend a gap year, and the majority of them are just as productive as hitting the books your freshman year of college. The most productive and encouraging of these gaps years revolve around work, travel, volunteering, or researching/exploration. The AGA claims that 28%of students use a gap year to build their work experience, 85% utilize the year in order to travel, and 51% are looking to research and explore careers paths and study options.
Receiving a degree by the age of 22 is the accomplished goal by many, but is not necessary for a life of success. In just one year new skills can be learned, new worlds explored, and new career paths created. To overcome the fear of the gap year is to understand the gap year. It is a one year break taken from continuing education in a school system in order to explore better options for you before returning to academics to apply what you’ve learned on your own.
The Working/Volunteering Gap Year
This may be the least admired gap year, but it is certainly one of the most beneficial. According to Student Loan Hero “the average Class of 2016 graduate has $37,172 in student loan debt, up six percent from last year.” Often times the gap year is an advantage to save money toward tuition and help with financial aid. That isn’t the only reason, and not always the most important reason, to consider taking a year off in order to work.
Enrolling in college with a full year of work experience sets graduation back one year, but gives an advantage over other students. Gapwork states that taking a gap year to work allows for a sense of freedom and independence, developed skills, responsibility. Transitioning from a high school classroom to a college can be as big of a change as moving across the world. Professors expect more, and the competition amongst students can be higher. Tackling the duties of a working adult early builds maturity that is valuable in any classroom.
The Traveling Gap Year
Perhaps the most common gap year. At the age of 18, the world presents itself as a place of limitless options. For the wanderer at heart, it’s the opportunity to learn a new language, experience a new culture, discover the world. AGA reports that the most significant experience gap year students had while taking time off was being in a new and different environment. This year allows for time to discover who you really are outside of the classroom when your independence is finally granted.
Traveling encourages a new perspective and an opportunity to ask questions about history and real world issues. It can instill beliefs and motivate curiosity. All of which combine to initiate the basis of intellect. At the very least it’s a chance to see what the future has to offer and the places a student can go.
The Exploring Gap Year
It’s not all work, and it’s not all play. Some of it is just sweet preparation. If you’re determined to spend your one year wisely, and plan on enrolling for next Fall semester, why not find out what you really love and plan a path to achieve it. AMA points out that 51% of gap year students use their year to explore study options, while 44% use it to explore career options. In a way, their one in the same.
Breaking free from the set curriculum of the high school school system is a relief when it comes time to choose your classes and your professors for your undergraduate degree. The chance to study the thing you’re passionate about lies before you. How do you know what you’re passionate about if you haven’t been exposed to it yet? Enter, the gap year. This gap year allows for a chance to explore oneself as well as career options. A lot of research and growth can be conducted in just one year, and it may be the one thing that sets a student toward the right path and on time.