Ever heard of this term before? Well, more and more students are learning the meaning of this term by experiencing it every year. As you can guess from the meaning of gap and the picture above, gap year means having a break before starting to study in college. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to experience that a student, but I have some friends who have taken a gap year.
Gap year is actually popular in many countries. When I was a volunteer in Slovenia, I had some friends from Germany. Even though they were only 18, they were volunteering just like me in Slovenia. To be honest, it was quite surprising for me to see those young people volunteering in a country, completely away from their families when they are only 18 years old. Thanks to them, I learned what gap year means.
Gap year is very important for a young person to explore himself and all other things in life. When a person always stays in comfort zone, he may not know what life will bring to him. Students who take gap year are usually 18 or 19. These years are really important to shape our decisions, explore ourselves and get ready for real life after high school. Real life can't be learned in our comfort zone.
As this period is really important, countries are trying to encourage people to go abroad and take this chance to get to know other cultures. Also, while applying for a job after university, people are asked if they had experienced gap years by going abroad, travelling for a while or volunteering for some organizations in their own country or abroad.
Students have different options to take advantage of the gap year. The most popular ones are traveling and volunteering. Personally, I find volunteering very useful. Working for an organization without expecting anything in return is just amazing for a young person who is just 18 or 19. Can you imagine how effective it can be on a person who is trying to improve himself?
Traveling is also great as it can help you to experience lots of new things. When you are volunteering or traveling away from your family, you are the one who has to give decisions. You might be mistaken about them sometimes, but mistakes are the thing that help us to get better in life. That's why, I love the idea of having gap year when we are so young and open to new experiences.
Some people might be afraid of leaving their comfort zone. However, we need to leave our parents at some points of our lives. When you have someone who is like a controller around you, there is chance for you to improve yourself. You might be the princess or prince of your family, the only be-loved one of them, but you should know that they won't be always with you.
Trying a new culture, becoming a part of a new society is an amazing feeling. There is no way to understand how beautiful and valuable it is without breaking the chains around you. There will be up and downs in your life, but at the end you will feel much better with lots of memories and realize that real education actually begins with you, not the lessons that are offered to you by your teachers.
Many people are not aware of this chance. As educators, it is our mission to inform people around us as much as possible so that they can explore themselves and become well-educated people by learning things through experiences.
As a proud member of @Sndbox, I support 
