Band 6+: Many students choose to take a gap year before starting university, to travel or gain work experience. Do you think this is a good idea or a waste of time? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

At present, I see a fairly common situation that some students choose to take a gap before starting to study university, to travel or accumulate work experience. I firmly believe this opinion is a waste of time. This fact may originate from several factors.

Advocates argue that taking a year off after many years of intense study can give a lot of benefits. This time may help young people relax, explore themselves and gain valuable life experience before officially entering the university path. For instance,these hands-on experiences at work or exploration of cultures in different nations can bring many useful lessons.

Critics, including me, firmly believe that with the age of just graduating from high school and about to enter college, many young people often do not have enough financial ability as well as maturity to implement long-term plans including travelling. This issue is not only expensive but also can cause them to lose direction when returning to study. For example,Tran Thanh – a famous MC in Viet Nam, once shared that if he is not persistent and has a clear direction in the early stages of his career, he can easily get lost when faced with the temptations of early fame. If he had chosen to take a year off to find inspiration or try other experiments, he might not have developed and maintained the stability in his career that he has now. In addition, if many young people choose to work without a university degree, their job opportunities are often limited to manual jobs, which are not suitable for future career orientation. For instance, some young people after graduating from high school choose to take a year off to work, but because they lack degrees or professional skills, they are limited to jobs including restaurant service, convenience store sales, or general labor. Although these jobs can accumulate experience and earn income, they often do not relate to their major that they decide to pursue in the future. As a result, after a year, they may lose motivation in study, or not have enough time and energy to return to the educational path.

In conclusion, although taking a year off can bring benefits, I believe that this is a waste of time. Instead, students can arrange reasonable time during their studies to both travel and gain work experience without interrupting their main educational path.