It is becoming increasingly popular to have a year off between finishing school and going to university. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?

Nowadays, it is becoming very common for students to take a gap year after finishing school and starting their university life. This essay will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of this trend. To begin with the positives, the first one is undoubtedly the broad exposure to practical life. When students take a year off, they get plenty of time to work, travel and see the real world for themselves. This usually helps them to understand what they are good at and then take wiser decisions when choosing their careers at the time of university. Another benefit of taking a gap year after completing school is the opportunity to discover hidden talents. For instance, when a young student takes a gap year, he could invest this time in studying different short courses such as photography, cookery, automotive etc and discover a talent which he had known about himself before. This is because the only way to find a talent is to try multiple things which is only possible for a young student when he takes a gap year. However, such advantages come up with some disadvantages as well. The main one is the loss in momentum of one’s education. For example, when a student takes a year off after school, it is often difficult for him to return back to studies after a year. This tends to happen because when a student exits from his academic life, he takes up an odd job, starts earning money and the urge to return to academic life usually begins to diminish. This ultimately results in him not graduating with a university degree and loss of potential career development which would have been possible otherwise. In conclusion, taking a gap year has its both positives and negatives. While the benefits include the exposure to real world and the potential to discover hidden talents, the major drawback is the loss in momentum of academic life.