Gap Year Benefits: 7 Benefits Of a Gap Year That Will Blow Your Mind
In our last post, we discussed the five biggest myths about taking a gap year. Now that we have cleared the misconceptions, it’s time to take a look at some gap year benefits.
Taking a gap year is a serious decision students make for various reasons. While many are cynical about this non-traditional path, gap year programs are becoming more popular in the United States. Are you still not convinced that this is the right path to take? Here are seven gap year benefits to think about before making a decision:
Increased Self-Awareness
Gap year programs provide ample opportunity for travel, service and cultural exchange. These bring about a heightened awareness of your behavior and its impacts. Furthermore, they provide a unique opportunity for self reflection. Most of life is too busy to spend a lot of time digging into your own story, strengths, passions and bigger questions about the purpose of life. But a gap year provides time, resources and mentorship for exactly those purposes.
Global Awareness
Taking a gap will help you view the world from a different perspective. Visiting new places and interacting with other people from different parts of the world will help you appreciate the world better. It will inspire interest in current events and global affairs. And serving abroad often gives gap year participants a new passion for combatting injustice and a new gratitude for what they have.
Develop New Life Skills
You will learn and develop several life skills by taking a gap year. By interacting with others in a completely new context, your communication skills will sharpen, and you will learn to adapt better in the face of challenges. You may also discover hidden passions that will inspire new goals and ventures. And most gap years walk through basic skills that you might not have learned in your teenage years such as how to cook an awesome meal or budget your finances in a responsible way.
Boost Self-Confidence, Maturity, and Independence
Gap year programs and activities are known for pushing students outside of their comfort zone. There are so many benefits this can bring, including improved self-confidence, maturity, and independence. All these will make it easier for you to cope in college and real life after school. Gap Years are a bridge between high school and the rest of your life. They give you the space to grow before making the big leap to adulthood.
Make New Friends
Making quality friends is another excellent benefit of taking a gap year. There are many places you can make friends, but those you will meet in a gap year program are special. Friendships formed in an academic setting are common, but friendships formed during special programs like gap years are unique and will improve your life in the long run. Most gap year participants report staying in touch with their friends from their program many years after it ended.
Better Academic Performance
Improved academic performance is one of the gap year benefits that will certainly blow your mind. The life skills you learn during the program will help you organize your life better and perform better academically during college and in graduate programs. 60% of gap year students said that they took their academics more seriously after taking a year out from education.
Improved Job Prospects
Do you also know that taking a gap year can boost your job prospects? Taking the courageous step shows that you have some of the qualities employers look for, such as courage, curiosity, open-mindedness, service, and willingness to try something new. You will also gain relevant experience during the program. Over 60% of gap year graduates surveyed said it helped them decide their major and realize their future direction. And 88% said they thought their gap year added to their employability.
There you have it! Above are some gap year benefits that will blow your mind. It is often rewarding to take the path less traveled. Taking a gap year is one of the ways you can improve yourself all-around before attending college. The points briefly discussed above are just a few of its numerous benefits. Click here to learn more about the benefits of Denver Gap Year.