What are the Pros and Cons of a Gap Year? Here’s a Guide Whether You Should Take a Gap Year or Not!

Taking a year off from an academic journey is known as a gap year. A student usually takes a gap year to rejuvenate themselves and feel prepared for the journey ahead. Therefore, it becomes important that apart from resting one should also indulge in various activities during their gap year that can help in their personal growth and make them feel confident for what lies ahead. 

Are you also planning to take a gap year? If the answer is yes, then it is quite important to weigh the gap year pros and cons in order to take the right decision for yourself. Read this blog further in order to know about the advantages and disadvantages associated with a gap year. 

Gap Year Ideas

Taking a gap year from an academic journey can help an individual rejuvenate themselves for the journey ahead. Although, going for a gap year doesn’t mean that an individual should halt their personal development as well. Therefore, it is important to indulge in activities during a gap year in order to ensure personal growth. Mentioned below are some of the ideas of things that one can indulge in during a gap year. 

• Learning something new –  It is said that learning should never stop. Therefore, during the gap year, one can indulge in learning a new language, sport, cooking, etc. 

• Volunteering – This can be great to inspire and assist the wider community of an individual. An individual can volunteer to their wider community through charity, assisting elderly people, helping out local areas, etc. 

• Travel – If an individual has a knack for exploring different places, cultures, people, etc. then planning to travel during a gap year can be a good option for them. It would be great to journal the experiences along the way and maybe publish them as blogs. 

• Work Experience – While taking some time off to rest, one can still gain work experience by signing up for remote internships or freelancing work which can also help in earning some money along with gaining work experience. 

• Taking up courses – One great way to judiciously utilise the time during a gap year is to take online courses to learn new skills which can help an individual to strengthen their resume by adding a new skill to it. 

Also Read: Best gap year programs 

Gap Year Pros and Cons

If you don’t know about the gap year pros and cons, you won’t be able to make an informed decision. Keep in mind knowing gap year pros and cons will help you come up with fresh perspectives that will ultimately allow you to make data-driven decisions.

Pros of a Gap Year

A gap year is a double-edged sword as there are both advantages and disadvantages of it. Therefore, an individual should take the decision related to a gap year by weighing both the pros and cons of it. Mentioned below are the advantages of a gap year: 

• Provides an opportunity to pursue other passions – Taking a year off provides a lot of time for an individual to pursue their other interests apart from their academics. This can even give an individual courage to maybe embark on a different path which they are passionate about. 
• It can look impressive on the resume – A gap year that is spent constructively according to the perfectly charted path by an individual can impress future employers. Therefore, one should prepare a plan which should include things like travelling, internships, learning new skills, volunteering, etc, as these activities can help an individual gain impressive skills which can, in turn, aid them in getting good job opportunities. 
• This can be a memorable experience – A gap year can prove to be once in a lifetime experience where an individual gets a break from a long academic journey. During this time one can explore various things which they didn’t get the time to experience before. 
• Opportunity to step out of the comfort zone – Since a gap year is a step to deviate from the traditional way of doing things, it pushes an individual to step out of their comfort zones, take challenges head-on and become responsible. 

Also Read: What is a gap year certificate and why do you need it?

Cons of a Gap Year 

As discussed above there are disadvantages also associated with a gap year. Mentioned below are some of the cons of a gap year that an individual must consider before taking a decision to take time off: 

• Risk of losing academic momentum – After taking a gap year there are two cases one of which an individual will encounter – first, after the gap year, the individual returns refreshed and motivated to pursue further studies while the second case is that there is a risk of an individual losing interest in academics and feel demotivated to pursue further studies. The second case can result in halting the academic momentum of an individual. 
• Loss of valuable time – If an individual didn’t plan their gap year properly then this can result in loss of valuable time which can leave them behind the competing with their peers leading to insecurities. Therefore, taking a gap year should be a well-thought-out decision. 
• It can be expensive – As discussed above a gap year should be about exploring and travelling to make the most out of it but this can prove to be expensive. Therefore, along with a well-charted plan, an individual should also ensure that they have enough funds to pursue the activities they have decided upon.
• Prove to be hiccup while looking for a job – Sometimes employers are apprehensive about an individual that has taken a gap year and may even look down upon this thing. This can cause a hurdle for an individual while looking for great job opportunities. 

Must Read: What is deferred entry?

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