With the end of the year nearly upon us, it is time for the graduating class of 2022 to look towards their futures: College!
All throughout high school, and especially in junior and senior year, there is pressure for students to select colleges that they wish to attend after graduation. This means countless hours of research outside of school, to find a small handful of colleges that offer majors that students wish to pursue.
However, there are other options that students may not be aware of, don’t take into consideration, or simply aren’t an option because of pressure from family or friends. One of these options, of course, is the gap year.
What is a gap year?
Let’s quickly establish what exactly a gap year is:
A gap year is essentially when students take time off from school to pursue personal interests and gain some exposure to the wider world. Students can use this time to find and explore passions, apply for jobs, explore various investments, go house hunting, and travel, to name a few activities.
There are 4 different types of gap years:
- Immersion: Living abroad in foreign countries, immersing oneself in one or more different cultures.
- Volunteer: Working to better the community around oneself through volunteer opportunities, while also meeting new people and experiencing new cultures in the process.
- Personal: Exploring one’s passions and interests and exploring them to one’s content. This can mean starting a blog, starting a YouTube channel, exploring Twitch streaming, or anything else that helps express one’s interests to the wider world and connecting with like minded individuals.
- Academic: Options range across colleges, but offer college programs that further one’s learning during the gap year. It’s also an opportunity to meet new people and become exposed to different cultures, all the while experiencing college life and not being under pressure to pick a major.
Myths and stigma
(you probably already know)
- Students see gap years as a time to postpone academic work.
- Students “travel” and end up partying all year.
- Students who take gap years are elitists and financially privileged.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Students may be more satisfied with their post-college career
- Prepare for college by developing skills, finding passions, and gaining experiences
- Explore opportunities that might not be available in the future (ie. traveling abroad)
- Learn life skills, such as managing finances
- Start to develop a professional resume
Online college is also an option
A gap year isn’t the only thing available to postgraduates! There is a little thing called online college, which can be done from the comfort of your own home. For students hesitant to leave home so soon, or are simply afraid of traveling abroad without their support network of friends and family, then there are a variety of options readily available for online college. All it takes is one Google search to uncover these online programs.
Make it productive! How to plan a gap year
- Make a plan! This is important if you don’t want to spend your days slacking off watching TV in your parents basement.
- Include your interests. You’ll enjoy your gap year a lot more and be more motivated if you manage to include your personal interests into your plan, plus you’ll be able to bolster your college application.
- Get a job. While not completely necessary, getting a job may be a good way to pass the time. It might not be at a place you enjoy, but at least you’ll be less likely to waste time doing nothing for weeks on end. Plus, it’s something to go on future resumes’.
- Enlist help from those closest to you. Your parents can help you plan your gap year better, provide advice, and are there for you if things end up not going your way. Your friends can probably help you out when the going gets tough as well, and provide advice for starting college. Always make sure you have that safety net behind you!
- Learn something new. A gap year is the time to learn new things that you may not otherwise learn in college, whether it be life skills, social skills, personal skills, or other academic skills. A gap year without learning is not a productive gap year at all.
Conclusion
College is only one pathway to take after high school. Once students are out of high school, their lives are in their own hands. The world is much more than the four walls of a classroom or a lecture hall, however. Don’t feel like physical college is your only option after high school.
College is very important for some jobs, like becoming a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer. College is there for the type of people who need a degree to get the job of their dreams as well. And as outlined in this article, there’s always other options for those who simply don’t feel ready, who don’t know what they want to do in the future, or want to slow down and explore the world before being consumed by the stress of college life.
Citations
Credits:
Created with images by sharafmaksumov - "Word or phrase Gap year in a dictionary." • TongTa - "woman hiking with backpack relaxing in nature and enjoy the sunset view on mountain peak at Mae Wong national park Thailand." • REC and ROLL - "Medical student sit at the desk, study medical literature, take an exam. Stressed and tired young male"