A gap year is a year-long break typically taken after a student completes their high school education (A-Levels). According to statistics, around 40% of students intend to take a gap year or have considered it somehow. Now the question remains, is a gap year worth it? There’s a lot to consider and many students tend to just see it as a year-long of wasting your time when instead a gap year is a chance for students to open up opportunities for themselves.
POSITIVES OF TAKING A GAP YEAR
A gap year a year set out completely for yourself. You can take charge of how you manage your time and what you intend to do with it
INDEPENDENCY
A gap year allows you to explore yourself and your interests. This is a chance to take up internships, volunteer positions, and jobs. These will help nurture your professionalism and responsibility. If a student has enough saved up they can also use this time to travel abroad and learn about new cultures and experiences. Travel especially helps a person gain independence. Whether you’re travelling abroad or simply doing a local internship each way you tend to become independent and responsible for your affairs.
BETTER ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Studies show that students who take gap years tend to perform better academically. Why does this happen? Often during or after completing school, many students tend to experience something known as burnout syndrome in which students tend to get so physically and mentally exhausted due to stress. A gap year is a perfect time for students to take out time for themselves and give themselves the mental break they need. To make sure you start university on a good note take the time to get a refresher so that when you do intend to go back and start university it’s with a refreshed and focused mind.
NEW EXPERIENCES
A gap year is a year of opportunities waiting for you. You can travel abroad, volunteer, work jobs, etc. The sky is the limit. All of this not only helps you gain experience so you can build up your resume but also you get to learn about new cultures and societies. However, most important you get to make new memories which you end up cherishing for your whole life.
NEGATIVES OF TAKING A GAP YEAR
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES AND EXPERIENCES
While one of the main pros of taking a gap year is all the new experiences it also means giving up on many experiences. Many of your friends who don’t opt for gap years will be moving on to university and at this point in time, you won’t be in the same educational timeline as them. It means your graduation, spring break, and many other events not lining up with theirs.
COSTLY
If you don’t start planning early on gap years are just a burden on your expenses. Travelling isn’t cheap, especially when hastily planned. A gap year means that you have to start earning for yourself and make sure your expenses are paid for. A year of freedom has its own set of costs meaning whichever type of gap year you choose to take it will end up being costly.
BEING ALONE
Though independence is a huge benefit of taking a gap year this independence also means a year of tending to be on your own most of the time. Even though a new country teaches you a lot you may end up missing out a lot on events back home, this includes cultural events and festivals such as Eid. You may not be able to celebrate it the same way as you used to as a kid due to your transition into adulthood.
A gap year a year set out completely for yourself. You can take charge of how you manage your time and what you intend to do with it. At the end of the day even though everyone can advise you as much as they want the decision to take a gap year or not is yours. Everyone’s life and how they choose to manage it is different. A gap year may not be the best decision for everyone which is why you should take the time to carefully plan and research about one.
Don’t want to take a gap year but also want to know yourself better? Visit merafuture.pk today and make informed decisions about your career!