High School Graduates Should Take a Year off before Entering College (Essay Sample)

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High School Graduates Should Take a Year off before Entering College
Many students transit smoothly from high school to college. Most of them consider moving swiftly to college as the normal step to take after graduating from High school while others prefer to wait a while before enrolling into a college. Taking a transitional year before going to college has not been common in the US. However, recently, increased uptake of gap year has seen many programs that target such students experience a dip in their admission numbers. Students take a break before entering college for varying motivations. Some of the students have plans to travel abroad, explore careers, and engage in community service among others. It is vital that students take the gap year to reflect on their motivations before undertaking a particular career path, gain experience through employment and community service as well as seek additional financial support to support their college education.
Taking a break before joining college is very essential in allowing students to explore their interests and refresh their skills. It in turn works to their advantage by preparing them for strong performance upon entering college. Research shows that students that take a break prior to enrolling to college outperform those who don’t. The gap year provides such students ample time to reflect on their interest in a particular field and ignites their excitement. Being excited about a particular course of study allows them to remain focused and increases their ability to focus. The gap year provides students with an opportunity to find direction and a sense of purpose. Students should consider taking a break to prepare better, develop the passion that is essential to be effective during the four college years. Taking a break allows students to clarify the career path they wish to pursue. Such clarity is crucial because it also saves money that could otherwise have been wasted in tuition for a career they are not sufficiently motivated to pursue.
Gap years are important in helping students to gain experience that is essential in developing a smart, critical and innovative thinking frame during college and at work. Undertaking community volunteer work in non-profit organizations at home or in developing countries, working with grassroots youth and other community roles improve essential transferrable skills. Their volunteer experience helps them understand themselves better, their relationships and the world. It is necessary for deepening their capacity and perspective on effective citizenship. Undertaking work during a gap year challenges a student’s knowledge and accelerates their development by upsetting previously held ideas. Taking opportunities where one lives with a different community provides students with valuable experiences that also help them to see the world from other people’s perspectives. Engaging in work or community service widens a student’s scope of though by expanding their worldview. Classroom learning and venturing out through community service provides starkly different levels of intensity regarding questioning assumptions, inspiring critical self- reflection and cultivating ethical dispositions. A student stands to gain more breadth and instills a sense of independence. It enriches students thinking and strengthens their drive to engage in co-curricular activities, and undergraduate projects as they feel responsible for creating an impact in their society. Taking a gap year to work is thus very beneficial as students transfer their experience to their personal and professional aspects as well as prime them for leadership.
Taking a break to obtain gainful employment can also develop a students’ capacity to mobilize finances for tuitions and other college costs. A student that works to save money for a year eases the financial burden of attending college. Finding work and residency in the state where one intends to attend college also offers more tuition savings. It may prove beneficial to learn of opportunities available directly with the college to slash the tuition fees once a student attends. Engaging in some work programs may also yield stipends and scholarships at the end of the program. When students undertake such programs, they stand to earn scholarships that could assist in financing their college education. They may be lucky to gain employment in some companies with strong retention policies such as providing tuition for its employees to undertake their studies. When students undertake a gap year and find employment in such companies, it is possible that the company may have plans to develop the capacity of its employees through employer aid that provide a grant to cover tuition. Working during a gap year also provides students with knowledge and skills to make money during their studies. Some students can establish businesses that may flourish even upon entering college. It offers them the opportunity to mature, be independent and lessens the financial burden of college education using the profits from their businesses. Students also learn how to better manage their money as they prepare to join college and reduce wastage. Taking a break before going c...