Many people are tempted to take a gap year. This means a little ‘break’ from studies, especially before going to a university or college. Sometimes, the student is completely released by any educational activity, and he can even take a part-time or full-time job. Other times the student will still get engaged in some courses, extra-academic and volunteering activities and so on. Studies have shown that the most popular activity during a gap year is traveling around the world.
The modern society tends to highlight the benefits of taking a gap year while minimizing the disadvantages of this action. Because of this, at a first glance, a gap year may seem the best decision. But in fact, a student has to consider the cons of taking a gap year, too, before making a decision.
Forgetting the study habits
Of course, a whole year without writing an essay, working a project or reading will be a great disadvantage when you are returning to your studies. When you are used with studying, your brain is having a routine which helps you to learn easier. Once you take one year pause from all these academic activities you are going to have a hard time when you will be coming back into an academic environment. Not to mention that you will have to revise everything before getting start again.
This difficult transition is definitely belonging to the cons of a gap year.
A less active social life
This aspect is often neglected, as the students are enthusiastic about the new people they will meet during their gap year. No one denies that traveling around the world will enrich anyone’s knowledge or that meeting people from different cultures has plenty of advantages. Still, after such a wonderful social and cultural experience, the student will come back to college or university, where he will be faced with a cruel reality. Most of his friends are no longer his colleagues, and he will have to socialize with other people. This results in a less active social life and frustrations as the student feels like he has lost all his friends at the same time.
An expensive experience
Even though traveling a lot is very tempting, it is also pretty expensive as well. When it comes to the cons of taking a gap year, the financial problems should not be excluded. If a student is doesn’t have enough money, the experience of a gap year will definitely be frustrating for him. While his friends will travel around the world the whole year, he may afford this only for a few weeks. What happens next? Many of the people will start seeking for a job, but usually, this is not enough to pay for their expenses. Others end up even worse, lying on the couch and watching TV all day long.
A possible waste of time
When we are saying that a gap year is a possible waste of time, we are not referring to that rich cultural and social experience of travelling for one year round. But the reality shows that there only a limited number of students succeed in having such an experience, as it requires a lot of money and good planning. If volunteering in Egypt or teaching English to African scholars will impress any employer, watching TV all day long for a whole year is a big no-no for any CV.
