Gap Year

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In Britain and in other parts of the world, students have been taking a gap year between high school and college for many years. The highest three rated outcomes of gap years is that of gaining "a better sense of who I am as a person and what is important to me" followed by "the Gap Year gave me a better understanding of other countries, people, cultures, and ways of living" and "it provided me with additional skills and knowledge that contributed to my career or academic major."(Kahl) Many students use a gap year to travel, to work, or to find out what they want to do in their life. Gap years prove to be beneficial to many students in more ways than one. The secret to having a successful year between high school and college is a structured plan with goals. Many students find that a gap year helps them to “set me on my current career path/academic major" or "confirmed my choice of career/academic major." (“Data Gap & Year Benefits”) At Sydney University, a study conducted with 900 first-year students shows that a gap year increased motivation and boosted their performance in their first semester in academics (Knoll). Taking a gap year between high school and college gives a high school graduate time to rest his or her mind while figuring out what he or she wants to do with his or her life, travel across borders, and participate in work projects throughout the world to help those in need.
A gap year can bring many benefits to a person in academics as well as life. In today's work environment, people who work best with others tend to be more successful. In all regards, a gap year will challenge the student to work better with a more diverse array of people. In a successful gap year, a person will most likely either ...

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...ill help out many American students better their lives in one way or another.
A gap year can be an opportunity to mature and gain life experience - both good reasons for looking into the options available. However it’s important that a gap year shouldn’t be viewed as an extended holiday, instead it should be an opportunity to learn useful career skills and experience new things. If a gap year is spent relaxing your mind, but sitting on your bottom, then it was well wasted. (Mohn) Although it may seem the rest that was needed was fulfilled, your mind will not have the willpower to go back as a full time student, especially if you are unsure with what you want to major in. Only take a gap year if it is structured with either missionary activity, work to pay for college, or traveling the world to open up your mind.

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