Taking a gap year between high school and college can be tremendously beneficial to one’s personal growth, whether one decides on enrolling in a structured gap year program, spend time volunteering abroad or simply traveling the world. Regardless, taking a gap year means that you’re living life to the fullest. Here are 5 reasons why.
1: You'll perform better in college.
Students might worry that college admissions officials or or professors will look down on them for taking a gap year. This isn’t true: many schools report that gap year students have higher GPA's and are more involved on campus, so their attitudes toward gap years are far from unfavorable.
2: You'll realize what you love before you start studying.
More often than not, college students commit themselves to one area of study, realize it’s not for them, and then swap to a completely different major… often two or three times. You’ll cut down on coursework, tuition bills and stress if you take time before college to decide how you want to spend your academic experience before you get there.
3. You’ll get to adventure at your prime.
When else are you going to be 18 years old with no job, no mortgage payments, no significant other, no kids, no homework and no worries? Never. The answer is never.
4. You’ll know what’s important in life before most people do.
College is ridiculously fun, but it’s easy to get so caught up that you begin to believe your fraternity or friend group is the absolute center of the universe. As such, any small crisis might seem like the end of the world. However, if you’ve traveled the wider world in all its complexity and glory, you’ll understand there are bigger issues for humanity than a failed date night or lost game of beer pong.
5: You'll improve yourself.
Life feels like it’s unfolding fast right now, and in college, things only move faster. Give yourself room to think and breathe and be on long train rides from country to country or in days spent strolling through new towns. You’ll be surprised where your mind wanders when you give it free rein.
When you graduate from high school, often we are ready to just go on and get on with our lives, but if you think about it, when will there be another time in our lives where we can be a broke college student exploring the world on our own?
