Gap Year Essay

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Gap Year Did you know, that Gap year before college gives grads valuable life experiences (MacDonald)? “A gap year is a period of time a person takes off between or during their education years. It’s most popular to take after high school graduation and before starting college” (McKay). Gap year is used take a break from formal education to increase self-awareness, learn from different cultures, get prepared for college, and experiment with possible careers. Typically these are achieved by a combination of traveling, volunteering, interning, or working. Students get very burnt out from high school, so why not take a break? Sixty percent of students are not mentally prepared to go straight to college after high school (“Data”). Many students can go gain experience in their field of study to increase their further knowledge during a gap year. They could also go and learn a new language or tour a different country. “Learning a foreign language is a skill you’ll have for the rest of your life and one that employers find very attractive” (McKay). Taking a gap year will help the students gain many personal skills that they will use in the long run. Did you know that many academic benefits come with taking a gap year? “Gap year students show a clear pattern of having a higher GPA than would otherwise have been predicted, and the positive effect lasts over all four years” (“Data”). With a gap year, college students are more likely to go to school with a purpose and want to do well and get good grades. Taking a one year break between high school and college allows motivation and interest to studying will be renewed. Excelling well in academics can help one get scholarships and will help them pay for their education, so they won’t have to pay as much. College can be very expensive,and not many people have the funds to pay for college. “Costs vary widely but
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