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

Among high school graduates these days, more students gravitate towards taking a year-long break before pursuing college. While this trend has several merits, I firmly believe that its adverse effects are of more notice. On the one hand, deferring university enrollment may prove a real boon to students. A rationale for this is that they have more time to hone career-related skills and broaden their horizons, whereas their peers at universities are busy with homework and group projects. Therefore, they stand a higher chance of becoming knowledgeable employees, thus get promoted at work. Besides, instead of instantly jumping into colleges, these students can attend occupational orientations to identify the proper career path. That is of paramount importance, especially to those who receive inadequate guidance at high school. Taking my friend as an example, only when she finished the last course at the university did she realize that her major was not suitable. On the other hand, gap-year takers may suffer from various detrimental effects. The first negative is the sense of peer pressure they have when most of their friends have already embarked on tertiary education. During the break, they may feel left behind by their competent friends at the university because partaking in college activities is out of reach. Moreover, the longer the gap year is, the less ambitious students become. Once they get accustomed to the flexible schedule, they may lose the driving force to continue their further education. In conclusion, delaying university education for a year allows students more time to arm themselves with vocational skills and choose the field born for them. However, from my perspective, the feeling of inferiority and the loss of motivation outstrip its benefits.