Gap Year: Pros and Cons

Hello, Reader!

As my gap year is (sadly) slowly coming to an end, I have decided that it’s a good idea to share some pros and cons and things to consider if you’re thinking of taking a year out of your studies! Personally, my gap year had a lot of ups and downs - there were some times that I will cherish forever, and also some moments that I wish I could forget but, overall, the one thing I can say for sure is that I’ve learned a lot along the way. In the end, I’m grateful that I took this opportunity and that I did make the most of it in the best way that I could. Taking a gap year sounds like this huge decision because it seems like everybody is going to university - but that’s also a huge decision and neither of these options is better than the other. When I was applying to university, my mindset was that taking a gap year was my last resort; not going to university in September was my worst case scenario. Then I started receiving all these rejections in year 13 and I was set on the idea that I just need to get in somewhere, anywhere at all. Looking back, that was a terrible mindset to have, because the real worst-case scenario is spending three years studying in an environment where you can’t thrive and grow as a person as well as a student. When I decided to take a gap year, I knew that it was a better choice for me than going to a university that I didn’t want to go to just for the sake of going to university that year. Whether it’s a break to get away from that academic environment or whether it is a year to travel, to pursue your own projects, a gap year is a break from the system that some people need. Regardless of the reason why you’re thinking about a gap year; here are some things to consider!

Starting with the low points, I want to mention that different people will encounter different challenges during their year out - I’m just sharing some of mine, perhaps as an example. One of the hardest things that I battled with was my negative perception of taking a gap year and the reasons why I had to take a gap year. I had a lot of internal struggles with the idea of failure and my own self-perception. It’s easy to say that “every failure is a lesson” or that “it’s not a failure it’s a learning moment” or whatever people say, but the reality was that I felt like a failure and I took university rejections really personally. I felt like somehow I didn’t live up to expectations that people had of me or that I had of myself as a high achiever. It took a lot of effort and growth to overcome these feelings and learn from the experience. Another obstacle I came across was that feeling of missing out, watching that uni life through the window of Instagram. Everybody was going out to parties and having fun and living this uni life and I wished I was there - I did feel almost jealous of what they were experiencing even though I’m fully aware that I’ll be like living this uni life too, just a year late.

Nonetheless, I think that the highlights stand out more. The two main “pros” for taking a gap year, in my humble opinion, are the opportunities to travel and the lessons you pick up along the way. I spent the first six months of my gap year working, so I could afford my travels and then found programmes and jobs abroad which would allow me to travel without spending a fortune. I spent January on Angloville, and then February, March and May Au Pairing in Madrid; I’ve gained so much experience for working with teenagers and children and I intensely studied Spanish in Spain. And I've still got two or three more countries to tick off before I start university! During this year, I’ve learnt more than I probably even realise and I genuinely would’ve never even considered getting involved with all these things if I didn't have a free year to fill up with adventures. 

Undoubtedly, being on a gap year you will gain a different set of experiences to your peers in the first year of university. This has two sides to it, depending on how you look at it. On one hand, as I said before, it felt almost like I was missing out on something, but on the other hand, my peers didn’t get to experience all the things that I got to experience. While they were busy with uni work and adjusting to a new life, I was travelling and focusing on personal projects. But I think that having all that free time on your hands is also a bit two-sided. Obviously, it’s amazing to be able to spend your time doing whatever you want, but it can also be overwhelming and scary at the same time, because, depending on your job and stuff, there isn’t really any structure or routine to conform to. You have to independently organise your time and that can be difficult, because it’s quite a new situation to be in; when you’re younger, your parents organise your time and then you go straight into school where the teachers organise your time and then suddenly you’re 18, technically an adult, nobody’s telling you what to do and you don’t know what to do with all this free time. Anyhow, that independence is really a blessing but also a huge challenge that you’ll most likely have to deal with sooner or later.

The bottom line is that, as with going to university, there are pros and cons to taking a gap year and you just have to decide what is best for you. If you’re considering it and you’re really not sure- just do it, you’re not losing anything in the process, you’re really only gaining. It’s definitely a personal choice and some people will thrive during that year, but some people won’t - you just have to know what is best for you.

Good luck with the decision making!

Love,

Agnes xo