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 decided to do this.

There is a growing trend towards taking a gap year prior to entering tertiary education among school leavers in certain parts of the world. But it is true that practice does not have its own advantages, I would argue that the benefits of going to effort or travelling before one embarks on college far outweigh these disadvantages. On the one hand, people’s concerns about delaying university are largely justifiable.

To begin

with, if a person opts to travel, there is the question of finance. Most high school graduates are unlikely to be able to fund their own travels, so they must ask their parents to pay for all the expenses of the trip. It is obviously undesirable, especially for families in developing nations, who have more urgent needs to address rather than travelling. Should they decide to go to industry, there is a high chance that they would just end up doing part-time tasks with meagre pay. And, these jobs often provide employees with little exposure to professional working styles and skills, so most fail to gain any substantive benefits from them.

For example

, my friend spent a summer working at a fast food establishment in Hanoi, which he said was a complete waste of time because he could not acquire any new skills, nor could he procure any significant savings from the salary. But, notwithstanding the described issues, I believe abundant advantages accrue to taking a year off before college. By going to a job, youngsters can obtain valuable working experience. The merit is they are able to put their study into perspective when they take university courses later. As an example of that, an accounting major can better imagine how accounting theories and standards are applied in a corporate context if he has previous experience reading financial statements and handling transactions as a cashier. By travelling, one has the chance to acquire useful life skills by living independently, especially if he journeys to a foreign country. I can personally vouch

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, as during my 3-year stay in America, not only did I materially improve my English, but I was able to learn how to live on a tight budget and manage personal finances. In conclusion, it is my genuine belief that taking a gap year before enrolling in a university is a rewarding experience and definitely an option worth contemplating for those who are about to graduate from high school.