There is an ongoing trend among school graduates that after finishing high school, students are inclined to allocate time to working or travelling before applying to tertiary education. While deciding to devote a couple of years to work or travels can strengthen individuals’ experience in their preferred field and broaden their horizon, there is downside to this course of action. There is significant chance that youths’ motivation to study will deteriorate, eventually defying them from academic objectives.
Preferring work life or a year of amusement can offer a wealth of advantages, chief among them being hands-on experience regrading individuals professional field. Dedicating oneself to professional employment in preferrable field can equip individuals with the experience, which eventually benefits them during their studying years, allowing them to grasp the full context of conceptual theories. Additionally, becoming an educatee of a university requires a person to incur significant amounts of financial resources. In this sense, working serves as a viable solution to address this problem by providing students with necessary financial reserves. As for travelling, it grants a person a chance to experience the world first-hand, further compounding its benefits in academic field. Once people witness world-renowned facilities with their naked eye and communicate with the local public, their outlook on life expands, which is a very critical characteristic required to become a member of tertiary education.
However, it will be neglecting to not acknowledge the drawbacks associated with gap years. For one, once students establish their income stream, their focus on education becomes diverted. The main objective of allocating fours years to studying at university is to achieve financial independence and secure a well-rounded future for oneself or for future generations. However, Accomplishing their financial objective, individuals might start having second thoughts about enrolling in educations once again. For another, even if their motivation stays a rock solid, there is a significant chance that previously internalized knowledge erodes, eventually depriving individuals of achieving educational goals. For instance, in Uzbekistan, a notable proportion of young demographics opt for a year gap, which is why students rate of acceptance to un iversities are significantly low compared to their neighboring countries of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
In conclusion, students deciding on gap year can yield both positive and negative outcomes. Employment in a chosen profession can offer experience that can assist them throughout their academic journeys and mitigation of financial problems. However, the pitfalls of this so-proposed trend, potential loss of knowledge and motivation to continue education, remains concerning.