5 Reasons Why You Made a Good Decision Taking a Gap Year

Before I start to explain why you should think about what comes after the gap year, I’m going to make you feel good about yourself!

Read this, if you are not sure whether or not it was a good decision to take a gap year after you graduated from high school.

Yes, this little post is supposed to reassure you that you didn’t screw up and you made a great choice. So if you feel down about it, here is my motivation kick for you!

1. You are taking a well deserved rest!

People often forget how important it is to simply charge your batteries. After busy period of final exams and graduating, you deserved a break. No matter, what you decided to do with your time off, you did deserve a break from education. Whether you decided to travel, work, volunteer or play your X-Box or PS4, you had some rest from constantly thinking about exams, readings and homeworks. You might have even thought that you miss school. And that’s the first reason on why taking a gap year was an awesome idea.

2. You had time to decide what you really want to do…

… and if not, you should start thinking about it now! Gap year is called a gap year for a reason. It is supposed to last for one year. It’s November. You should already figure out what you want to do when your gap year finishes. You see your friends dropping off uni already? Bad for them, but it only should reassure you how clever it was to take a gap year! You didn’t start a degree, for the sake of starting a degree. You weren’t sure what you want to do with your life, but having those couple of months off, you should start thinking about what to do next. Universities offer early application processes for students who already have their final exams results from the previous year. I remember that when applying for Uni of Westminster, I sent my application through in January!

3. You are getting experience!

No matter, if it is a work experience or experience of travelling by yourself or experience of volunteering. It’s some kind of new experiences which people who didn’t take a gap year, won’t have! A gap year gives you a great opportunity and I promise you that you never know when those experiences that you get, will become useful! It will be probably in the least expected moment!

4. You will have something to talk about!

I remember my first chit chats at Westminster Uni with my new friends. Also, I remember that loads of new profs asked us to talk about ourselves during the first week. Because I didn’t start my university straight after finishing high school, I was able to say something more about me. I already had some work experience, I earned money to do cool stuff during summer holidays. I sounded interesting, my profs were asking me questions and remembered me since the very first meeting! It certainly sounded better than: “Hi, I’m Dominika, I’m from Poland, I finished my high school 3 months ago and I’m looking forward to study at Westminster”. Plus, my gap year gave me a massive boost of confidence, which made me sound relaxed even when speaking to 70 people which I’ve never seen before.

5. You finally have time to look for horcruxes ;)

That one doesn’t need explanation, I hope!