Some students prefer to take gap year between high school and university, to work or to travel. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Over the past few decades, it is a universal truth that high school seniors will either enroll in university or enter the workforce. Nevertheless, there is a growing trend towards taking a gap year among students. While it may be advantageous to a certain extent, I believe that its disadvantages are more glaring.

On the one hand, the advantages of having a year-long break are irrefutable. First, gap year can help students gain/enrich life experience and some helpful skills. By immersing themselves in the outside social environment, they can hone practical skills through part-time jobs. For instance, students can learn good presentation skills by being a tour guide and can even pick up a new language if they serve a group of foreign visitors. Besides that, youngsters who take a gap year will have more work experience and thus have a better chance to enter a high-paying job as employers want to hire people with hands-on experience.

On the other hand, I would argue that the drawbacks of defying university enrollment are much worse than the above merits. Students who choose to delay tertiary education for one year may fall behind; therefore, they may face peer pressure which is the driving force for self-confidence loss. Another disadvantage of this is that gap-year takers may neglect their studies due to the interruption after a long time being away from formal schooling. As a result, high school seniors could lose the momentum to continue their study. Last but not least, because of the fact that students who decide to work instead of going to college right away are unlikely to save up a lot of money. Because of their low academic level compared to bachelor’s degree holders, they could do mainly entry-level jobs, which have low salaries. To conclude, while taking a gap year may have certain perks, I hold the belief that they are eclipsed by the disadvantages above.