Spaces and exchanges - gap year

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- (…) advantages and drawbacks

Gap years help young people to develop more of an appreciation for foreign cultures, and in a global marketplace where people and businesses from all over the world are connected, this can be invaluable and you can also get an understanding of a new language. Something that often stands out on a CV is a gap year spent volunteering, whether you’re looking after orphans, caring for injured animals, or helping to build a school in a disadvantaged community. And it will also give you a glow inside, knowing that you’ve done something for others, so it’s an impressive material for university or job applications. Lastly but certainly not least, a well-used gap year can demonstrate to recruiters that you have developed valuable life skills such as independence, self-confidence, and flexibility when it comes to unusual or difficult situations. Also, depending on what you do during your year off, you might be able to save some money.

For some gap year students, being a year behind it’s not so cool. A year off will put you a year behind your friends, it will put you further back on what can be a long educational process and you may find it hard to settle back into your studies. Also, you might have some money issues. Some gap year experiences can be quite pricey and can be an added expense to an already costly university education. Probably the biggest issue with gap year travel, and what gives most parents nightmares, is that if you’re not organised, then you could end up spending a year sitting on the couch which means, a year spent on nothing.

[CONCLUSION] We can conclude that travelling to a foreign country like doing a gap year can broaden our horizons, because it offers a great opportunity to develop personal and employability skills, it gives us the experience of working in a job area of interest and it gives opportunities to meet new people, new cultures. It is also something that can confirm what sort of job or career someone is interested in before they choose their next step.

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