In many countries students take a year off after finishing school and work or travel during this period. Should students take a gap year before attending universities?
One of the most conspicuous trends of today’s world is taking a year off by students before commencing tertiary education and spending this time either on travelling or working in an effort to gain some hands on experience about the outside world. As such, there are both merits and demerits to this trend, although I am of the opinion that the former outdo the latter.
There are a deluge of arguments in favour of my stance. The most preponderant one is that it will render a much-needed exposure of the outside world to the youth. Not only will this exposure, be it through travel or work experience, augment their self-reliance both psychologically as well as financially, but it will also in still in them an array of essential social skills that are deemed pivotal in coping with harsh reality of the world. Needless to say, all these attributes will stand a youth in good stead, as far as surviving in the fast-paced competitive world is concerned.
Notwithstanding all these merits, taking a year off in student life is not without concerns. On the one hand, by remaining away from studies for a considerable period, students are likely to develop an unwelcome apathy towards studies because of a strong influence and impact these distractions have. On the other, with all the perilous and spoiling elements such as evil companies and drugs available at hand, teenagers can easily go astray, thanks to the immaturity and vulnerability of their age, thus ruining their promising future.
In view of the arguments outlined above, one can conclude that the role a gap year plays in a student’s life is instrumental indeed. nevertheless , its potential drawbacks should not be overlooked either.
Once you have to get up and go to work every morning, you look back and realize that 8 o'clock class was not so bad after all.
I don't think taking a year off before going to college is a bad thing.
I personally had to quit college because after only a few months there, I was not able to do the things I wanted and learn what I was interested in. It was a waste of my time and energy, so I had to quit.
But I believe taking a break after high school is a good thing, especially if you don't really know what to do next.
If you have a certain goal, and you know what college to go to, and what you want to do in life, sure, go ahead, you should go to college and follow your dreams, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But I believe that if you don't really know what to do, taking a break, travelling, or trying new things is a better option than going to a college you don't really want just for the sake of going.
People overestimate the importance of a degree these days. When I quit college it was because I learned nothing about programming in a college that had as a primary subject "computers". Most of the people there were supposed to come from high schools where they learned a lot about computers. I had to learn about that on my own.
I knew more than them.
And I'm sure that in only one year of learning how to code on my own I'll know more than they learned in college in 4 years. That's only because I know exactly what I want to do with my life and I'm focused on making progress, not getting a diploma.
Sorry for the long comment, I wanted to express my opinion. I strongly believe people should take a break after finishing high school and learn what they want to do in the future instead of just going to college just to get a diploma.
Thanks for reading my article.
Great photo , eye catcher
Thanks for reading my article.
I wouldn't say you develop an apathy, simply enough you learn more while visiting another country than attending classes. I study Politics but, since I started to travel, I hitch-hiked with a Dutch MP, I asked a question at an EU-funded Training Course to the former Romanian Prime Minister and hitch-hiked extensively the Balkans, where it's essential to be diplomatic and avoid faux-pas.
That being sad, it's better to do it before than after, as it can happen that you find a girlfriend, a stable job or other reasons that restrict you from leaving.
agreed, Thanks for reading my article.
I wish I had done this. I think I would have appreciated college more if I had.
I totally support the idea to take a break after school and to have some time to travel or even better to work. The second variant will be more useful because it gives the idea of how the real world lives. It is a big difference in the picture we got from school and how everything works. It would help to make a better decision where to go and study then.