The Concept of A Gap Year

Posted by joanne on November 29th, 2009 at 04:07pm

In the last decade or two, a phenomenon called the “gap year” has been growing in popularity, particularly in the most developed regions of the world. What this refers to is the practice of taking a year off, usually after high school, to give oneself a mental break before plunging into the world of higher education. But it isn’t just a year of goofing off; rather, this time provides a chance to learn more about the global society and gain either work or volunteer experience.

There are many reasons why a young learner might want to take a year or two off in this way. The first, of course, is simply to have a chance to grow up. The young person is about to enter an educational world where they’ll be expected to stand on their own two feet a lot more than they’ve done before, and now’s the chance to do just that. When traveling they’ll be exposed to other cultures and other ways of doing things, and this might alter the type of studies they engage in after they finish the gap year and get back to school.

So prevalent has this practice become that entire organizations have sprung up to help facilitate choices that will most benefit him or her. Everyone from travel agencies to governments seem to have set up similar opportunities. Some countries have arranged exchange programs, and while these may not always have been designed explicitly for gap year work or travel, many who take this year off take advantage of these programs. Australia has the most extensive arrangements, having created working holiday exchanges with countries like Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Norway, Taiwan, and many others. This year can be a youth travel experience that shapes what the young person does for the rest of their life.

Not every culture encourages students to take gap years, however. Denmark, for example, actively discourages the phenomenon, feeling that their society and economy require students to get into the work force more quickly. So the country pushes them toward continuing with their educational pursuits instead. Nor is the practice very common in the United States, although it is increasing slowly.

However, the lessons learned by students when they take this break will probably be valuable to them for the rest of their lives. They’ll return to their higher learning as more mature, adult people, probably with a more realistic and understanding view of the wider world than they’d ever had before. Taking that gap year might turn out to be the best thing they could have done for themselves.

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