A gap year

Some people do not go directly to college but travel or work for a short time. Do you think it has more advantages or disadvantages?

It is increasingly popular today that some individuals opt to take a period of time off to apply for a job or go somewhere before pursing tertiary education. My own view on this matter is that it has more drawbacks than benefits which also show some merits.

Regarding the plus points, people can doubtlessly gain a considerable number of key skills and practical knowledge from this trend which are crucial for them when they officially work. Several skills like budgeting, decision-making, leading a team and persuading customers will be gradually developed through working and traveling process. For instance, when a graduate works as a full-time accountant for a company before joining universities, he will be more likely to know how to calculate and manage the amount of money for specific activities so that it will not go bankrupt. Therefore, his experience on money-management will be a distinct advantage for him to best other interviewees when he finds another job after graduating from university.

Nevertheless, to my way of thinking, minus points overshadow the above points. First, people will stand to suffer from loneliness and have to solve every problem which, I believe, are difficult to some people. In particular, if they have their valuables stolen during a trip, females will find it hard to stay calm to call the police themselves. Or whenever they have something to confide to, there is nobody beside them to listen to. Second, individuals also have to spend more money on plane tickets, amenities, reservation in a hotel and personal items as they are independent on finance once they decide to take a gap time. Thus, it probably will be a huge challenge for poor graduates to do this. Finally, people will possibly be mentally hurt and not feel motivated when they meet failures and see their peers happily work a high-paid job after leaving college whereas they are sometimes not sure about their future. This could lead to their poor performances at work and easily quitting what they are doing.

As has been noted, I still insist that the weaknesses of this tendency outweigh the strengths due to those reasons.

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