The Importances of Taking Gap Year

Patricia Thai

Mr. Roger Jack

ESL Humanities English III/CP

March 27, 2015

Young People are Encouraged to Travel for a Year Between Finishing High School and Starting University Studies.

Thesis: According to the idioms: "Traveling forms a young man", taking a year break to travel the world provides students with the chance to develop their independence and self-confidence, to complete abilities to broaden their knowledge about different countries and cultures, and to increase their chances of getting into top colleges.

        Have you ever decided to set foot in every corner of the world to discover exotic cultures and gain a deeper insight into humanity? As for me, traveling has always been my biggest passion ever since I had my first trip outside of my country back in summer 2012. I rode a motorbike from Ho Chi Minh city to Cambodia all by myself. And nowadays, I see that young students, like I did, think more about traveling. Nevertheless, they do not have enough time during a year in high school. Therefore, they make a decision to spend one year off before attending university. According to the idioms: "Traveling forms a young man", taking a year break to travel the world provides students with the chance to develop their independence and self-confidence, to complete abilities to broaden their knowledge about different countries and cultures, and to increase their chances of getting into top colleges leading to successful careers.

        First of all, taking a gap year provides students with independence and self-confidence, which may not be easily obtained while staying close to home in a familiar environment. The youngsters experience real life challenges and obstacles by staying out and working for a living. This life experience assists them in understanding the meaning of life and helps them become more mature. For instance, when they were young, they likely depended on their parents to do housework. Following the Statistics New Zealand, many students from 12 to 20 years old spend nearly half their time on personal care activities such as sleeping, eating and dressing (46 percent of an average day) whereas their mothers are cooking. If these students leave family for a long time, they are more aware of taking risks to go so far as possibly find out they can do all by themselves. That is the same as spending one-year break. As Espinoza, who used to be a lazy girl, she did not do anything to help her parents to do housework. After enjoying a gap year, she shared that her parents are most concerned about her leaving home, because she ‘can not do anything from the smallest things like putting clothes into a washing machine’. However, when she got back, everything she did more ‘proficient and effective’. In addition, young students’ youthful and unconventional method of approaching a situation could, sometimes, turn a challenge into an opportunity, such as a broken down bus in transit, a cultural misstep, or simply being sick while on a gap year. Relying on Research and Education in Australia, there are 11 percent of students who could treat a contingency. Therefore, Karl Haigler – a gap year parent, an author and a researcher affirmed that, “when they talk about problem solving, employers are looking more at kids who are good at problem finding” (Gura.T, 2013). Due to the fact that: “Our destination is not a land, which is a new perspective.” - Henry Miller, the results of taking a year off have been uniformly positive. As Mrs. Elisa Rose Birch (University of Western Australia – Faculty of Economics and Commerce) said, gap year students are perceived to be “more mature, more self-reliant and independent than non-gap students” (Birch, 2007). Harvard’s daily student newspaper, The Crimson, reported that students who had taken a year off found the experience “so valuable that they would advise all Harvard students to consider it.” (2000)

Secondly, youngsters could broaden their knowledge about the diverse culture in many countries during a year break. Allowing young people to travel is advantageous since they are exposed to new ways of learning. They can get the chance to interact with people from different societies, in turn, bolster their understanding of others. As for Casey Santi, who is studying French and history, she shared how the stress during her senior year in high school had led her to put off college for a year “to regain herself and get back on track". Doing community service in Europe and Africa "increased her passion for culture and interest in anthropology,” she said. Actually, formal classroom education alone cannot accomplish all aims. The classroom is limited in its ability to engage students with difference and contribute to their development as able citizens. Winifred Montgomery made a remark: “Many teachers are faced with limited understanding of cultures other than that of their own; and there is a possibility that this limitation will negatively affect their students’ ability to become successful learners.” Making decision to be a “gapper” and trying to occupy another’s way of life in a different culture such as living with a new family, speaking the language, integrating into a community, working with local youth help young students develop empathy and virtue, and expand their capacity to see the world from others’ perspective. As an example, Huyen Chip, who took a year break, set her foot on 25 countries with $700. Throughout the trip, she learned many beautiful things about the world. She said: ”If I had to choose between money and time, I chose the time because it is the best way of all to get the full benefits of a time-off.” Besides the trip, she also issued journal books that took note all her experiences and explained to young people the meaning of a gap year.

Finally, taking the traditional kind of gap year after high school helps student to take full advantage of their time in college and have more abilities to aware what occupations they would like to work. One telling observation at Tufts University is that many students who take gap years end up changing their intended major after returning. In 2011, a study at Middlebury College conducted by its former Dean of Admissions, Robert Clagett, found that students who had taken a year off had consistently higher GPAs than those who did not (Espinoza, 2013). "A lot of our students say when they enter as freshman that they have a greater sense of purpose in their studies," said Princeton’s Bridge Year Director John Luria. Moreover, in the research of New York Times Newspaper, gap-year students show a clear pattern of having higher GPA’s than would otherwise have been predicted, and the positive effect lasts over all four years. To be clear, though these gap year students are working in partnership with a community organization and aim to make some positive impact, the students typically, at least in the short term, gain more than they are able to give. But this empowers them to bring new perspectives to bear in other personal, professional, and civic efforts. Gap years, borrowing a line from the Rhodes Scholarship Trust, “can help create leaders for the world’s future” (Fitzsimmons, 2011). In fact, all the Ivy League universities now endorse gap years for interested students. And they are right. They understand that students who have completed a gap year will be more invested, better community members, and have better employability as a result of spending a year break. With this in mind, some prestigious universities, for instance, Princeton and University of North California offer scholarships and fellowships to incoming freshman that took a gap year. “Harvard College encourages admitted students to defer enrollment for one year to travel, pursue a special project or activity, work, or spend time in another meaningful way.” – Marlyn E. McGrath – Director of Admissions, Harvard College said. Gap year students have an opportunity to apply the past 12 years of academic classroom knowledge to relevant experiences and studies. Thus, they are gaining clarity about career ambitions both favorably and unfavorably. Students who have taken a gap year are overwhelmingly reported being satisfied with their job. Upon further inquiry, in The Gap Year Advantage by Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson, they found that gap experiences have an impact on their choice of academic major and career, “either setting them on a different path than before a gap year or confirming their direction.” (Haigler and Nelson, 2014). Relying on Gap Year Survey, 88 percent of gap year graduates reported that their year off had significantly added to their employability.