Some students prefer to take a gap year between high school and university, to work or to

travel. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Over the past few years, in many countries, prior to embarking on their tertiary education,
youngsters are often encouraged to take a break from their study to work or travel across the
world. It is worth considering that this recent trend has numerous merits and a few demerits
which will be discussed carefully in this essay.

To a certain extent, despite being regarded as an excellent turning-point for the students, it
would be better to take the drawbacks of gap year into account. Taking a year off contributes to
the loss of a student's academic momentum. After taking a gap year, many students find it hard
to get back in the routine of an academically oriented lifestyle, consequently leading to another
year off from school. For example, instead of coming back to school tasks in colleges, young
adults may end up never returning to their studies as they think that it is better to continue
their current job or make as much money as they can. The more time spent out of school, the
more dreadful school becomes, therefore, making enrolling in college is harder to do.
Moreover, a gap year is considered a time-consuming factor since if learners do not have a
clear plan mapped out, they could waste a lot of valuable time on useless things. Hence, there
are still various drawbacks of gap year which need to be carefully considered in many aspects.

However, taking a one-year sabbbatical to explore the world offers numerous precious chances
for students. Firstly, taking a gap year assists the young generation in understanding themselves
better. Significantly, it unlocks golden opportunities for self-exploration in pursuit of their
dreams as well as their passion and personalities which are challenging to realize when they are
at school. Thanks to these discoveries, youngsters may not only hold a deeper understanding
which helps them set clear goals to strive towards but also have a myriad of motivations and
enthusiasm. For instance, data from Forbes showed that 84% of people asked to do the
research admit that taking a gap year helped them acquire skills and know themselves better to
be successful in their future careers. Secondly, when it comes to financial problems, taking a
gap year to find a suitable job helps students to take responsibility for their budget and lay
aside for college. As a result, this will ease the monetary burden as well as help them to notice
the importance of saving and budgeting. Thus, it is reasonable to attribute to the fact that
taking a year off offers students favorable opportunities to develop self-reflection, fulfill
market’s demands, and gain invaluable experience.

In short, although a gap year still contains potential risks and drawbacks, the benefits of it
dramatically outweigh the disadvantages. Taking a year off with a careful plan before pursuing
university studies helps pupils to discover their interests as well as allows them to consolidate
financially.