Are Gap Years a Good Idea Essay Example

Are Gap Years a Good Idea? Essay When you think about graduating high school. it is about ingrained in your encephalon that college is the following measure. You think. Who doesn’t have a college grade? And where in life am I traveling to acquire without one. But school is non for everybody. A batch of childs. including me. merely travel to college because it seems like the right way. Childs who have no thought what they want to make. believe well a college grade could be utile. good why would you desire to travel make something. when you have no thought why you’re even making it. Well. there may be another option. There is a British tradition. which is called a spread twelvemonth. Defined by Cambridge Dictionaries Online as a twelvemonth between go forthing school and get downing university which is normally exhausted traveling or working ( Cambridge University 1 ) . Now this sounds interesting. doesn’t it? What if you had a whole twelvemonth to make what you needed. travel or work. something to assist you calculate out what you truly desire to make with your life. In Britain. there is now this option. With this thought in your caput a inquiry comes to mind. should the U. S. follow the British tradition of pupils taking a spread twelvemonth? In the paragraphs below. I will state you why I think the U. S. should. I have looked at both sides of whether or non the U. S. should follow this British tradition. I have found though. that it is working enormously for the UK. That is the chief ground I think that the U. S. should utilize this thought. if it is working so great for the UK and their colleges have a better repute possibly we should besides believe about following this thought. I think pupils should take a spread twelvemonth for many other grounds besides though. which have to make with the pupil. First and first. it offers a great secular experience and gives pupils clip to make what they need to make. It besides gives those pupils who have no hint what they would wish to major in or do after college. clip. Time is what many pupils need. be ing rushed into college right after high school and holding to make college applications during senior twelvemonth truly stresses some pupils out. We will write a custom essay sample on Are Gap Years a Good Idea? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Are Gap Years a Good Idea? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Are Gap Years a Good Idea? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Me being one of these pupils. last twelvemonth when using to colleges. I had to compose that I was undecided. And here we are halfway through my first semester of college. and I am still open and have perfectly no hint what I want to make. And I feel like a batch of pupils are in the mute state of affairs I was in. Possibly if gap old ages were a more widely accepted thought and promoted so pupils who didn’t rather know what to make would hold another option. Anybody can make breach old ages besides! It is non merely used for immature pupils. Older people traveling back to school. have this option besides. And no affair the money state of affairs there are so many options. so no affair what if you wanted to go you could. There are pupil travel abroad plans. voluntary and scholarship options. No affair if you have money or non. you can acquire a great secular experience that will give you clip and excess accomplishments which most pupils will non hold in college. Many people th ink taking a twelvemonth off of school is unsafe. Not unsafe in a physical manner. but mentally. An sentiment of many who are asked about spread old ages is that pupils will non return to school one time they have had the freedom of no school for a twelvemonth. It is believed that pupils will go mentally lazy. and will non desire to work once more and recognize that they truly do non hold to travel back. But in researching this. I have found that childs who take spread old ages to make progressive things have loved their determinations and come back ready to larn once more. On the ill-famed website planetgapyears. com. many pupils tell about their experiences with spread old ages and how it truly helped them go motivated once more. Even though people think childs will non travel back to school. I think it’s better for person to take a interruption so travel to college when they are non ready. Surveies show that the dropout rate for incoming college fresher is about 30 % ( NCES 1 ) . Most freshers who are non equipped to manage college yet or who are non ready. but do it anyways. merely stop up dropping out. A Student dropping out provides lower statistics for good colleges. non because the college is making a bad occupation but because childs merely are non ready. Why should a individual go to college when they are merely non ready for it? If the dropout rate is high why non allow a pupil defer their application until they are ready? This is how the British spread twelvemonth works. a pupil applies to colleges their senior twelvemonth of high school. like a normal autumn applier would. Once accepted. the pupil so defers their application and the university gives them an sum of clip off. When this clip is over. they start in the following semester. Most British colleges offer this to pupils. and a batch of colleges really promote it to pupils who think they are non ready to manage the college life. I think the U. S. should make this to. merely because it is worki ng so good in Britain. The spread twelvemonth is proven to be a helpful and great experience for pupils. If it wasn’t why would universities promote it? Students come back from these trips or old ages off with a new found want to larn and a invigorated head. After traveling to school for four twelvemonth. it is decidedly difficult to be excited to make the same thing for another four old ages. But with a spread twelvemonth. you’re making something else for a twelvemonth. so when you come back you are in larning manner. Another statement person who is against spread old ages may do is that they are expensive. particularly if you are looking to go. This is wholly incorrect though! Travel is merely one option. you can take to merely populate at place and work. or concentrate on something else! You do non hold to pass money to take a spread twelvemonth. But there is ever that option excessively! Many pupils want to take a spread twelvemonth. but have no nest eggs or money to make so. No job! British universities offer 1000s of going options. such as scholarships. and analyze a broad plans. Scholarships can assist you acquire started and do it much cheaper. And analyze abroad plans are excessively. they help pupils acquire more for their money. And the survey abroad option besides helps them still be a portion of the university they would wish to go to! So you’re non to the full out of school. you’re merely off the chief campus for a small piece. Besides there are voluntary options. where you can pass a small spot of your clip volunteering but acquire to travel someplace for free or for a little fee! So there are many options for pupils who are non good off with money. which we know in this economic system is a batch of us. so why non make it? You must inquire truly how popular spread old ages are in the UK. Well I found statistics on a web site called gapadvice. org. A non-biased web site towards gap old ages. this web site is geared towards pupils who are looking to take spread old ages. It gives basic statistics and even research on spread old ages into how helpful and good they are for pupils. Harmonizing to UCAS Figures. the students take a spread year’ rate per twelvemonth is about 7 % . and has stayed near to around 7 % since 2002 until around 2011. But this twelvemonth had a surprising. 37 % decrease rate in the sum of pupils taking a spread twelvemonth. You may inquire why this twelvemonth had a decrease rate. Cipher is truly certain why. but a survey called Revision of Gap Year Provision study commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills could merely speak good things about spread old ages. This study was carried out by Dr. Andrew Jones from Birkbeck. University of London. to speak about if he thought spread old ages were aching or good to pupils. Wholly he says in this study is that it is good to pupils to take spread old ages. happening that Planned and well-structured spread old ages are a extremely good experience for immature people. They are frequently of import factors in easing the following measure in instruction or employment. Participants gain a broad scope of life accomplishments and other more specialised accomplishments. These accomplishments are frequently the 1s employers identify as lacking in new recruits and are valued by universities. Gap twelvemonth engagement besides benefits wider society both in footings of the activities immature people undertake and the wider impact of easing the integrating of immature people into society as working citizens ( Jones 1 ) . This is astonishing. A professional does a survey and finds merely good things about pupils taking spread old ages. He besides found that in the UK between 200. 000 and 250. 000 immature people aged 16-25 are estimated to take a gap twelvemonth of some sort each year ( Jones 1 ) . This figure is immense and has merely gone up since the earlier 2000’s. I think with merely good things to state about spread old ages. what is the injury in taking one? So I’m certain most pupils think. what’s the point? But if you truly think about it. everyone has someplace they would wish to go to finally. So take this clip to go at that place. Almost every pupil narrative I read online from a student’s position. said that taking the spread twelvemonth was one of the smartest things they have of all time done. And on top of that. that it was one of the best experiences of their life. I’m certain every bit shortly as you would advert taking a twelvemonth off of school to your parents. is every bit shortly as you would leap off a span. this is the same for me. My parents believe college is a necessity and would give me some brainsick expression if I had even mentioned taking a twelvemonth off of school last twelvemonth. But I do repent non even adverting it. As of now. it’s taking me some clip to acquire used to college. I have adapted reasonably good. but I decidedly think a pupil like me who has no thought what they want to major in or make outside of college. a gap twelvemonth would hold been a good acquisition experience for me. I didn’t have a opportunity to make this. but you do. With so many plans you hardly have to pay any money to see a whole new civilization and portion of the universe. You can see custodies on activity and travel at the same clip with volunteering. And you could even remain place. but don’t be lazy. take an internship. acquire a occupation. make something productive. It gives you clip and options to believe about what you would wish to make when you grow up. and gives you clip to put a fiscal land for yourself before traveling into college. Students come back with secular experiences and things many people have neer seen before. which gives them a leg up in college. If there is merely good to state about it. so why non?