What to do in a gap year?

Deciding whether or not do have a gap year after high School is an extremely important part of your future. For many it is a necessity to truly help them decide whether or not they want to continue with their studies, whether they want to pursue other types of careers, or it can just generally help you have a larger variety of experiences in your life. I for one decided a gap year was what was the very best for me.

Why did I do a gap year?

The main reason I chose to do a gap year was to allow me to ‘find myself’ so to speak.

Not only was I completely unsure of the direction I wanted to go in my adult life, but I had no idea whether or not I even wanted to continue studying. I was completely confused what the next steps to take in life were, and because of this, it was actually one of the best choices I have ever made.

Top things / What to do in a gap year

• Work
• Travel
• Volunteering
• Learn new skills
• Learn a new language
• Start a business
• Be a tutor/ instructor
• Internships
• Work abroad/ Working holiday

What did I do in my gap year?

Not only did my gap year give me the opportunity to find a job and get my life together a little bit more, but it also allowed me to add other types of things to my resume which is so important.

One of the best experiences I had in my gap year was volunteering at St Vinnies in my town. Volunteering is one of the most mentally and long-term beneficial things I have ever done and it was always something that came with a lot of appreciation and praise which is an experience I believe everybody should have.

Volunteering is often very flexible too in the way that they will always make sure it does not put any other jobs in jeopardy. Another small thing I did in my gap year was exercise much more than I had in year 12 as I finally had the time to work on my self-confidence which can also be so important in a gap year.

Should you do a gap year?

My main advice to anyone deciding whether or not to pursue a gap year, is that you need to make sure you really make the most of it.

Gaining something out of your gap year is such an important thing that people take for granted and then before they know it, all they have done in their gap year is play video games.

Another very important piece of advice is to make sure you still do something educational in your gap year. I continued the study of Indonesian language which was something I started early in high school and it helped so much with my cognitive skills and allowed me to keep my brain waves flowing.

And last of all, if you are having a gap year, really have some time to yourself to reflect on your education in the past and decide what the next stapes, if any, that you want to take are, because before you know it, it will be too late if you keep putting it off.