Thesis About Gap Year

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The Research Question Should a student take a gap year after their studies at school before pursuing higher education? I have the desire to attend University and become educated in the Accounting field straight after school however I have many options to a variety of gap year programs at the same time. The gap year programs all lead to the beginning of higher education however I am not sure as to take such an opportunity involving missing a year of studies at university. I feel overwhelmed by the many paths and options that are available for me and I feel that I need to perform a research and find answers for myself in order to determine the reliability and efficiency of such a program. Aim/s of the Research The aim of the research is to…show more content…
A gap is commonly known as a small hole between two objects. This helps us to easily define a gap year as a period of time (normally during an academic year) where a student takes a break from his or her studies between school studies and higher education. It is a way for students to pursue a series of life experiences through volunteering, working/interning, and studying abroad. The purpose of a gap year is to take somebody out of their ‘comfort zone’ and to find oneself through a different perspective. There are many sources and researches which have concluded many advantages and disadvantages of a student taking a gap year. Advantages: The first website I came across on this topic lists intriguing advantages to taking a gap year (http://www.gooverseas.com/blog/pros-and-cons-taking-gap-year). Emma Lander who is the author of the article discusses her mixed opinions about the usefulness of a gap year however she concludes that a gap year is very beneficial. She backs her opinion by stating that a gap year will “make your resume look pretty snazzy”, will help you “meet new people”, will give you time to unwind from your school studies with a “very long holiday”, will help you learn skills on how to “look after yourself” and finally that it will help you “become more mature”. All the skills mentioned here are very important for one to accomplish and what time would better than when you finally have a taste of independence in your…show more content…
His article, “The Gap Year Advantage” on the TeenLife Blog (https://www.teenlife.com/blogs/gap-year-advantage) is very inspirational and insightful. He immediately clarifies the reasons that students feel the need for a gap year. The first reason is that students feel that they need a break from formal education or otherwise they feel “burnt out”. The second reason is that students feel the need to “find themselves” as well as learn about the world and travel because school education has been a major distraction from doing so. Karl discusses the ever growing trend of people taking a gap year which has increased dramatically over the past few years. He plays a major role in my research as he brings evidence that a person who does a gap year will not be discriminated against when he later wants to later pursue tertiary education. He proves this statement by quoting a college admissions officer that he interviewed, “I don’t know of a college that wouldn’t welcome a student who took a thought-out gap year because of the value they bring to the community.” This is vitally important in order to clarify that a gap year won’t result in a student not being able to gain higher education
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