While many people think that gap year is a waste of time and opportunities, there is another side of this phase which is lesser known, but enhancing. A gap year, as we call it, is actually a ‘break’ that people take out for different reasons. While some might use it for travelling abroad, exploring new opportunities, others just travel around different places or sit around home to chalk out their future objectives.
It is most commonly associated with travelling, working and volunteering by taking ‘a year drop’ from one’s curricular education or work. However, the way people define a gap year differs from one country to another. In countries like India, students take a year off after high school, primarily to prepare for university entrance exams while in Japan, it is much of an employment practice which matches people with suitable jobs before they graduate. In US, this term remains an exception. A gap year has become common for people living in America and that is because students feel they are being burned out of education they get in classroom and need to understand themselves and their potentials better.
Taking a year off from regular educational course or work might appear as a risk to many people, but it is not so. The president at center for Interim Programs present in Princeton, Holly Bull has a completely different take on this matter. According to her, taking a gap year saves student’s time and money both, as it gives them time to explore their potentials, get more focused and takes decisions wisely.
While many students take gap year jobs to earn money for tuitions before enrolling themselves into tertiary education, others simply travel or do social works and volunteer in various organizations and social campaigns. Not only this, there are many other activities that one can do by taking a gap year including volunteering abroad, do some kind of work experience to build up personal and professional skills, in short, gain more and more experience before going for further studies.
It not only enhances your capabilities but also boost your career prospects. A gap year also proves useful and look good on your Resume as your future potential employers get to know that you have spent good time broadening your horizons, learning new skills and polishing them.
But before you choose to take a year off and go abroad, it is very important that you do a good research and explore all the prospects of what you are going to do. If you are clear about your goals and destination then you will be better prepared for anything that comes your way.
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