The Ultimate GAP Year

1. GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL

Although GAP years don’t have to involve foreign travel, most GAP year students seize the opportunity to travel to and through South Africa young people are able to figure out who they are and what inspires them. This firsthand experience of unfamiliar cultures offers profound lessons, especially for curious and motivated young people. After all, engaged travel is one of the best forms of genuine education.

2. LEARN MORE ABOUT YOURSELF

For students who grew up in a structured environment with clearly defined social, athletic and academic goals, GAP years offer valuable personal freedom. Young people are able to figure out who they are and what inspires them. During the GAP year, they begin to emerge as self-actualized adults.

3. HAVE SOME FUN

You only live once. A GAP year bursting with travel, adventure, exploration and self-discovery can be a life-changing and intensely memorable experience.

4. OVERCOME CHALLENGES

Make no mistake – a GAP year isn’t time to slack off or take a vacation. GAP year students usually work, volunteer or undertake self-directed service projects. For many students, especially those from sheltered backgrounds, the GAP year is a time to learn how to get along in the real world. This process isn’t always easy, but it is an essential part of growing up.

5. SAVE MONEY

More than 50% of all university first years do not finish the courses that they started with, or do not finish at all. Those who do finish often pursue careers with the wrong motives or undealt with baggage from their past and end up unfulfilled in their jobs and even divorced.

6. IMPROVE YOUR COLLEGE ADMISSION CHANCE

Imagine an admissions officer trying to decide between two applicants. Both applicants boast impressive grades, are highly recommended by their teachers and played First Team Rugby or Football or hockey. However, one applicant has volunteered for 8 months in Africa, speaks some Swahili and is passionate about public health issues in developing countries. Who do you think the admissions officer would choose?

7. AVOID THE SOCIAL PITFALLS OF COLLEGE

Students who arrive at university with a full year of life experience under their belts are less likely to engage in risky behavior than students for whom college/university is their first intoxicating dose of freedom from parental supervision. On this note, GAP year students often become effective role models for their college/university classmates.

8. FIND YOUR PURPOSE

College/university can be an opportunity to explore a wide range of academic disciplines, but students will get a lot more out of their education if they have at least a general idea of what they want to study, and what career their expensive education will prepare them for. At Pneukleus we have Career Direct consultant to help with career choices.

9. LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Proficiency in a foreign language is an invaluable skill for young people in today’s interconnected world. Living, working and traveling overseas is the best way to learn a foreign language, which means that GAP year students who supplement their high-school.

10. GET SOME SERIOUS PERSPECTIVE

Education, at its core, is about accumulating intimate knowledge of the world through a wide range of life experiences.

“Gap Year: A period of time taken by a student to travel or work, often after high school or before starting graduate school, as a break from formal education.” (www.dictionary.com)

Many competitive colleges and universities encourage applicants to pursue a gap year option after graduating from high school. The colleges believe that students who come to higher education with an extra year of life experience bring valuable perspective to the classroom.

Real world life experience gives GAP year students a greater sense of personal direction and specific academic goals. Nobody knows exactly what they want to do when they’re eighteen years old. It’s smart to take time to figure out who you are before you rush into what you’re going to be.

Gap years are popular with South African, European and Australian students, but remain relatively rare in the Americas. However, in recent years more and more American students are preparing for college by taking a gap year. We have a saying at Pneukleus, “You only live once, if you do it right, once is enough.”

10 Reasons to do a GAP year

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