By Kyla Mitchell
There are several different options for what you can plan to do after high school. The path you choose to take after graduation is known for being one of the biggest decisions in your life, it is a grand milestone that helps shape your future. The different decisions that you could make include going to community college, a four-year college, a trade school, going straight into work, and last but not least, taking a gap year.
Gap years are not exactly something you hear about often and most people have very minimal knowledge about gap years. Taking a gap year has various benefits, especially after going to school for thirteen consecutive years. In some people’s cases taking a year or so after graduation is the best decision for them. Here are some pros of taking a gap year after you graduate high school:
#1: You have the opportunity to get some job experience before you make any decisions about your future dream job.
-Taking a gap year and using it to get some job experience is a really helpful way to test the waters of different career paths that you may or may not be interested in. If you find something you are interested in, it can give you a head start if you want to go to school for it.
#2: You can take that time to learn abroad.
-Not only can you possibly travel the world, but you can learn new languages and understand other cultures and gain more skills that can help at or for a future job. These possible new skills can be bestowed to different colleges you may be interested in.
#3: You can use your gap year to start to save financially.
-Everyone knows how expensive college is in the United States so taking time to get yourself financially ready is a huge benefit to you and your wallet. Taking an entire extra year to work for some extra money or creating a financial plan or applying for scholarships and other aids can help make college more affordable for you.
#4: You can take more time to make decisions about what college you want to attend.
-Use your gap year to figure out what really interests you so that when you are ready to jump into college, you will know what classes will be the best fit for you and you won’t have to take a majority of your college experience taking classes you actually have no interest in.
#5: You can try something completely new.
-College is a new and exciting chapter of your life, but college is still pretty similar to high school. Taking a gap year can give you the chance to try something brand new and give you a new perspective when you get back into the classroom.
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