In some countries young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.

It is a common belief that young people take a

year

off to

work

or

travel

after high school and start tertiary education. The present essay shall attempt to cast light on the benefits and drawbacks of

this

approach.

To begin

with, one reason why youngsters gap a

year

to

work

or

travel

is advantageous is that they can gain some experience and

also

save some money. Students,

for instance

, are able to select a

work

and holiday visa in another country like Australia to take a job and

travel

,

as a result

, they can accumulate life experience and simultaneously have more time to consider their own direction. Another benefit could be that they

also

earn money to help pay for education, which is not inexpensive. One downside of

this

trend is that employment can deviate younger students from

further

studies. Earning money may bring in them the desire to earn only, which would make them lack interest in

further

learning. Another drawback is that they may lose interest in their own

culture

while travelling abroad. The new

culture

can attract them, thereby they would begin admiring the host country’s

culture

, as well as stop pursuing their own traditions.

For example

, research by Oxford University reveals that after switching off a

year

in a western country, Asian students begin to praise the

culture

of the host country and abandon their own

culture

. To sum up, despite the gap of a

year

to

work

or

travel

between high school and university learning has some beneficial outcomes, but hindering them from

further

study, as well as stopping appreciating their own traditional values are negative outcomes.