Are Gap Years a Good Idea?
Are Gap Years A Good Idea?
When you think about graduating high school, it is almost ingrained in your brain that college is the next step. You think, “Who doesn’t have a college degree?” And where in life am I going to get without one. But school is not for everybody. A lot of kids, including me, just go to college because it seems like the right path. Kids who have no idea what they want to do, think “well a college degree could be useful,” well why would you want to go do something, when you have no idea why you’re even doing it. Well, there may be another option. There is a British tradition, which is called a gap year. Defined by Cambridge Dictionaries Online as “a year between leaving school and starting university which is usually spent travelling or working” (Cambridge University 1). Now this sounds interesting, doesn’t it? What if you had a whole year to do what you needed, travel or work, something to help you figure out what you really want to do with your life. In Britain, there is now this option. With this idea in your head a question comes to mind, should the U.S. adopt the British tradition of students taking a gap year? In the paragraphs below, I will tell you why I think the U.S. should. I have looked at both sides of whether or not the U.S. should adopt this British tradition. I have found though, that it is working tremendously for the UK. That is the main reason I think that the U.S. should use this idea, if it is working so great for the UK and their colleges have a better reputation maybe we should also think about adopting this idea. I think students should take a gap year for many other reasons also though, which have to do with the student. First and foremost, it offers a great worldly experience and gives students time to do what they need to do. It also gives those students who have no clue what they would like to major in or do after college, time. Time is what many students need, being rushed into college right
When you think about graduating high school, it is almost ingrained in your brain that college is the next step. You think, “Who doesn’t have a college degree?” And where in life am I going to get without one. But school is not for everybody. A lot of kids, including me, just go to college because it seems like the right path. Kids who have no idea what they want to do, think “well a college degree could be useful,” well why would you want to go do something, when you have no idea why you’re even doing it. Well, there may be another option. There is a British tradition, which is called a gap year. Defined by Cambridge Dictionaries Online as “a year between leaving school and starting university which is usually spent travelling or working” (Cambridge University 1). Now this sounds interesting, doesn’t it? What if you had a whole year to do what you needed, travel or work, something to help you figure out what you really want to do with your life. In Britain, there is now this option. With this idea in your head a question comes to mind, should the U.S. adopt the British tradition of students taking a gap year? In the paragraphs below, I will tell you why I think the U.S. should. I have looked at both sides of whether or not the U.S. should adopt this British tradition. I have found though, that it is working tremendously for the UK. That is the main reason I think that the U.S. should use this idea, if it is working so great for the UK and their colleges have a better reputation maybe we should also think about adopting this idea. I think students should take a gap year for many other reasons also though, which have to do with the student. First and foremost, it offers a great worldly experience and gives students time to do what they need to do. It also gives those students who have no clue what they would like to major in or do after college, time. Time is what many students need, being rushed into college right