Gap Year In High School

Nick sits at his desk with his head in his hands. His leg is shaking, fidgeting at an increasing rate, almost as if he is anticipating something. Occasionally he will glance at the ceiling and run a hand through his hair, only giving it a more tousled look than before. He lets out an exasperated sigh, shoves away from the desk, and begins to pace. Displayed on his desk are college brochures. Nick is a senior in high school. While to his classmates and family it appears as though he is going to study law at Yale, in reality, he is having second thoughts about his choices. Unbeknownst to others, he has started to take a gap year into serious consideration. A little unknown fact about Nick—he has a fear of commitment. Which is the leading cause

Stereotypically, it is thought that knowledge comes from the amount of education a person has had. Often we forget that life has many opportunities to teach us if we let it. Statistics from a 1997 – 2006 study done by Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson, two expert researchers in the field of literacy, on gap years shows that one of the highest results was, “[the gap year] gave me a better understanding of other countries, people, and ways of living” (“Gap Year Data:” 1). Choosing to take a gap year does not always mean avoiding education for a year. Gap years allow time and opportunities that may not happen again in one’s lifetime. For example, someone decides to college right after high school and not partake in a gap year. Later in life, they decide that life is happening too fast, and they want to step back from everything and take a gap year. Except now, a new conflict arises; they have a career and a significant other that they do not want to put on hold. Should the opportunities come along later in life, chances are there are many more factors one has to take into account. Richard Weissbourd, a developmental psychologist, at Harvard Graduate School of education said, “There’s a conundrum here, in the sense that a gap year really works well for a lot of young people…For those young people, the merits for a year to refocus on their own sense of self while engaging in service to a broader community are

During their time off they do not gain any knowledge they did not already possess, thus essentially missing the point of taking a gap year and wasting their time off. Statistics in Heigler and Nelson’s previously mentioned survey showed, “(60% said the experience either “set me on my current career path/academic major” or “confirmed my choice of career/academic major”)” (“Gap Year Data:” 1). Concluding that 40% said their gap year was unhelpful in deciding their future. Even so, a gap year’s purpose is not always solely focused on the academic aspect. It is not to assume that this gap year did not help them in any way. Benefits from their gap year could have been in the form of making new friends or just time to recuperate. Gap years have an entire spectrum of benefits and can be proven helpful even after the gap