Imagine that it is the summer before your freshmen year of college and you are thinking about your future. You think of some of the places you wanted to visit before going off to college or starting a real career. You then begin to wonder what you really want in your life and future. Some would say to take a gap year after high school to find out what one really wants to do with his or her future. Many would argue high school graduates should be able to take a year off before going to college so one can travel, get to know oneself better, and save money. One reason to take a year off before college is that it gives one a chance to travel. The year off would be the prime time to travel because one does not have a real job and is not taking classes. Traveling would give one a way to gain new experiences. One can also learn many things while traveling. It does not matter if one travels to a different country or state, he or she is going to learn and experience things that he or she might not have if he or she did not travel. One can also figure out what one really wants to do with his or her future while traveling. For example, say that a student traveled out of the country to Italy. That student will learn all about the culture and visit some famous landmarks such as the Tower of Pisa. The student will most probably learn more about the culture and traditions because he or she is actually experiencing it and not reading all about it in a book. Traveling would be a great way to spend the year off before college because one is learning and experiencing new things before one is on a rollercoaster that is life. Another reason to take a year off before college is that it can help one find his or herself. Taking a year of... ... middle of paper ... ...ink that high school graduates would decide not to go back school. It really depends on how motivated the students are to start studying again. One might find that he or she is more interested in learning after taking a year off. The key is to stay motivated about going to college and pursuing a career that he or she really wants for his or her future. Students who take a year off and go to college may end up performing stronger academically because they have taken a much needed break. If going to college is what one really wants out of life, then taking a year off will only reinforce that. Many would argue that taking a year off before college would be a good idea because it would give one time to travel, get to know oneself better, and it would help one financially. Even though some would argue that students should not take a year off, it would really help
Students may think it’s unfair for some to go to college early and others stay behind, but this could actually separate the students who put in the work and effort to have this opportunity. If able, students should be able to start their lives early at a younger age because it brings about a greater experience. Starting their lives younger could be a great thing to go ahead and make their mistakes that every college student usually
Use the time to help develop your people skills to help you in the future. College helps with your organizations skills, time management to prepare you for the future. In college, you learn that there is a lifetime of learning to experience and you getting prepared for the upcoming decisions in life. With the future jobs, you will have deadlines to meet with multiple things at once, but you will be able to handle with having had 4 class and several things due on the same day. In college, there are many organization that people are members of helps set their future careers. College gives people the experience of an atmosphere that is a step closer to the real world. The experience that the college offers to study aboard and explore other countries to learn cultures that you may know nothing about gives you a diverse learning experience. Many people do not get the opportunity to travel aboard without college because they can’t afford. College has set up a way for many to experience these things. The essay Is College Worth the Money? Answers from Six New Graduates The lawyer Beverly Ozowara stated “she had the opportunity to travel (for a third of the normal cost) to Brazil with the Notre Dame Concert Band. During the trip, I was able to do things like perform at the oldest concert hall in the Americas and to swim in the Amazon river” (Dwyer113). While in college now I have met many different people in the classroom, where they are from and different things about their background. Opening and communicating with others helps you to be a people person with in the
The main reason that people choose to go away for college is to move away from home. Some main pros are you are completely on your own and it forces you to be dependent on yourself, causing you to become independent and prepare you for the real world. Another pro is that you get to meet new and different people. College is all about meeting new people and getting the chance to make new friends. Lastly, by expanding your environment, you get to view the world differently by meeting a diverse group of people. (Mosley). However, I still believe that staying close to home is the best way a person/student can begin life in the “real
First, what must be established is the distinction of higher education and college. Blake Boles, author of Better Than College, writes in his book the distinction between the two. He points out that college is one path to a higher education that ,essentially, is a prescribed path to success, but it does not guarantee higher education. Furthermore, he writes that: “a higher education is first and foremost the capacity to self-direct your life. Someone who has a higher education can define her own vision of success and pursue it, even in the face of difficulty”(Boles 4). There is a common misconception that college is the higher education path that leads to success. This is why parents hesitate to support their children in taking a gap year. They fear that their children will not be as productive or responsible for assignments. In contrast to that popular notion, gap years require more responsibility, if not more. However, in his book, Blake Boles answers the question of how to pursue higher education without college: “instead of following someone else 's curriculum, self-directed learners begin by asking themselves what fascinates and drives them.Their journey begins- and ends -with self-knowledge. Instead of taking full time classes, self-directed learners give themselves assignments that they find interesting, eye-opening and challenging” (Boles 5). With the absence of the responsibility to turn in assignments , prepare for presentation, comes a responsibility to construct one 's own curriculum. This leaves time for pursuing activities of interest. Instead of relying on professors to instruct one on how to go about learning, one must strive to network with people in the field of interest. They must seek mentorship in order to replace the guidance given by a professor. This takes a considerable amount of responsibility, which becomes very achievable since one understand the value
There are different types of high school graduates in America: some seniors already know what they are aiming for the future and some others wish not to know, while several others care less about their future – even if they are going to graduate in a couple of days. Few from the ones who are planning to go to college are just going to figure out themselves. Why go to college when you are just trying to figure out yourselves? Why should you not just take a year off for that? Taking a year off to refresh the brain would really help the students to decide on their future life. The graduated high school students should not be forced to attend college because some students present financial problems, lack of motivation, and lack of interest.
The thought of sitting four or more years scare some people because some people didn 't like their previous school experience. Most people who are not financially able, choose to work time they get out of high school.Most people may realize college is very stressful, and also very expensive for most people and many people are not very fortunate as others. If you do not find a job right after college, you might be piled up with debts and unpaid loans. You would end up having a bad credit score. Then end up having a bad start with your life. Going to college teaches you a life lesson, it teaches them to manage their time wisely. Going to college will pay off in the end. For example, you are at an interview and it 's you and one other person. The other person doesn 't have a college degree and you do. You are more to get the job because you have more experience than the other
From my experience most people think they know what a gap year is, some of those who think they know, infact have a skewed idea of what a gap year is. So, for the sake of everyone being on the same page, let 's go over a typical gap year; a gap year is a time that graduating high schoolers take off between graduation and when they enroll in college. The amount of time they take off varies, but most commonly around a year is taken off. There are many reasons that make a gap year a good idea for someone, such as: needing a break from school to “reset” in a way or not knowing what you want to do for a career and instead of jumping into college and working for a degree that you likely won 't use. In fact only 27% of college grads have jobs related
The world around us is forcing us to grow up faster than it used to and I wanted to hold on to my youth a little longer. There is a quote that states “In life it is important not to get too comfortable” (Unknown). After high school it’s easy for a lot of kids to just take a year off or go to community college because it’s the “comfortable” thing to do.
Before understanding the consequences of a gap year, it is important to understand why people take a Gap Year. Senior year can be tense and come with several unanswered questions. Seniors are given four options when leaving High School. Those choices are either joining the army, going straight to work, applying to college, or taking a Gap Year. In a journal by Sunny Niu and Marta Tienda, “Delayed Enrollment and College Plans: Is There a Postponement Penalty?” explains some of the reasons why high school graduates tend to not go directly to a four year university. One of the main reasons high school graduates are hesitant to attend co...
A gap year is a time for teens to take off between high school and college. A gap year is used to travel, work, volunteer or study. In general, a gap year has many advantages. This year out of a school is a good time for students to explore the world and gain valuable life skills and experience while learning to be independent. Teens in the U.S. should adopt the British custom of taking a gap year between high school and college in order to gain perspective on personal values and career goals as well as gaining needed life experiences without the pressure and expectations of a school environment. A gap year is a time for students to become independent and learn a sense of responsibility before entering into university life.
A discussion on this topic is really important because all the students and parents are confused whether it would be worth it to take a gap year or it would just be a waste of time and money. The different opinions vary from person to person. According to a few people GAP year is worth it because students become mature, it is kind of a break from studies, grow different kind of interests, do some volunteering work while at the same time some people think its just waste of a year, student lose out on the academics, they lose their interest and difficultly in joining back the academics after an year off.
Van Thompson states that “68.3 percent of students who graduated high school in 2011 were enrolled in college.” (Thompson, Van. classroom.synonym.com. Nov.2015) In other words, what Van is saying is that only 31.7 percent of students that graduate from high school do not attend college. Margaret Loftus states “ They may disapprove and discourage you from taking a year off. They may also believe that taking a gap year will lead you to discontinuing your studies altogether. The world-famous scholar Margaret Loftus is stating that people are disapproving of a gap year and the the disapproval cause will the student not to finish schooling. ( Loftus,Margaret. How a Gap Year Can Make Students Successful." U.S. News Education. U.S. News.
An opposition brought up about students taking a gap year after high school is that they will fall behind and get stressed trying to play catch up after a long
A common drawback of taking a year off from school is the lost friendships, being absent from friends. Contact can still be kept through e-mail and phone, but that may prove ineffective after a year off, as friends will have made new friends and have been adjusted to the college life. This makes it challenging to talk on the similar level or about interests and sometimes friends don’t fully reconnect after a year. This can affect a students’ social life and can show in their work when asked to work with others, especially when they are not adjusted to the new social level they are in. And don’t wait till senior year in high school to have a gap year. Start planning as early as sophomore year, because some colleges won’t allowed an accepted student to delay starting their freshman year, until they have a detailed plan on what that wants to do during their gap year (O'Shaughnessy).
Students who take a gap year regularly go on to be successful in college. Even though people might not go back after that year is over, everybody should think about the idea of taking a year off because it has a many amount of benefits and 90 percent of students who take a year off go back to college and graduate and it gives you a fresh start entering college.