IndexIntroductionMethodologyDiscussionConclusionBibliographyIntroductionMore and more students are taking time away from formal education to go to work or travel around the world. There are no exact numbers, but according to various research, the number of gap year participants continues to increase every year. They step out of their comfort zone and do something completely different with their life. But there are many other reasons to take a gap year. And, of course, taking a gap year can have its benefits. This report will delve into the effects of taking a gap year and how it benefits your future. The central research question is: “How does taking a gap year prepare you for the future?” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In order to answer this question, you need to answer a few other questions first. The sub-questions related to the central research questions are: · What does taking a gap year entail? · What are the reasons for taking a gap year? · What are the benefits of taking a gap year? Methodology In order to answer the questions that are possessed in the introduction, you need to do some research. This report will only use secondary data and therefore no primary data. This means that only existing data will be used and that no new data has been retrieved for this research. In order to retrieve secondary data, a desk research was carried out. This report used sources retrieved from online databases, such as Google Scholar and Nexis Uni. There are many different and relevant sources on the effects of taking a gap year. One of these is the "Review of Gap Year Provision" by Dr. Andrew Jones of the School of Geography, Birbeck College, University of London and was published by the UK Department for Education and Skills. This report contains a lot of information about the benefits of taking a gap year. Another important source was the qualitative study conducted by S. Rabie and AV Naidoo of Stellenbosch University in South Africa. They conducted research among 11 first-year students at Stellenbosch University who took a gap year, and then wrote a report on the results of their findings. The information retrieved was mostly qualitative. There was some quantitative information available in the sources used for this article. This article did not use journalistic sources as there was enough information available from academic research conducted on gap years. What does taking a gap year involve? to an experimental period of travel, work or other personal and professional development opportunities. It is usually taken before students begin their post-secondary education.” Piddock (2004) defined a gap year as “taking a year off between school and university to explore the world and career opportunities”. Jones (2004) defined a gap year as "any period of time between 3 and 24 months that an individual takes 'out' from formal education, training or the workplace and where the timeout fits into the context of a longer career trajectory." For the purposes of this report, Abdullah's definition is used. Additionally, those who take a gap year will be referred to as “gappers.” What are the reasons for taking a gap year? There are many reasons why people choose a gap year. In November 2012, the Center for the Analysis of Youth Transitions published a report justifying the decision to take a gap year. These reasons include the ability totravel, the ability to become independent, the ability to earn money, the ability to gain work experience and even the ability to take a break from studying. Jones (2004, p.37) states that: The most common reasons factors cited in the literature can be summarized as: the desire to take a break from formal education or work; acquire a broader horizon on life; experience different people, cultures and places; acquire personal life skills; Enhance the CV in relation to access to university or employment [in a general sense]; earn money; make a contribution to society; helping people [altruism]; to face a challenge; for fun and for religious reasons. Rabie and Naidoo (2016) found in their research that the most common motivating factor for engaging in a gap year was the fact that the participant was facing career uncertainty. 82% of research participants link the decision to take a gap year to the fact that they still don't know what to do with their career. They also state that two of the participants experienced family pressure regarding their future as one of the reasons for taking a gap year. The most common gap year activities are travelling, volunteering and working. Each of these activities can be undertaken for different reasons. Individuals may work to earn enough money to support the activities of the following gap year, to provide for proposed study, or to build a resume in preparation for a planned career. Volunteering can take place within a local community to engage in civic activities or it can take place in an overseas location, in which case travel and volunteering are combined. To summarize, the most common reasons for taking a gap year are: · The ability to travel; · The ability to become independent; · To earn money; · To gain work experience; · To take a break from studying; · Career uncertainty. What are the benefits of taking a gap year?Taking a gap year has many reasons, as you might read above, but it also has many benefits. Numerous studies and research have been conducted to find out what the real benefits of taking a gap year are. The benefits of taking a gap year can be divided into two categories: the benefits to the individual gapper and the benefits the gapper brings to society. First of all, the benefits that the gapper brings to society. The first is volunteering. “Clearly young people working on the type of projects run through voluntary organizations such as Community Service Volunteers will benefit the communities and groups for whom the work is carried out.” However, volunteering is not only a benefit to society. It also has some benefits for the gapper itself. First of all, the gapper will gain a lot of personal experience that can be used later in life. Secondly, volunteering can be added to the gapper's resume and will make him look good. The second benefit to society is the increase in gap year tourism. Many gappers travel during their gap year or do volunteer work in another country. In this way gappers contribute to travel agencies and other related companies. There are many international companies that offer travel or volunteer opportunities for gappers, and these companies grow as the number of gappers increases. The first benefit for the individual gapper is improved academic performance. Most of the research and interviews "relate to the argument that a gap year produces a greater degree of 'maturity' in a young person which allows them, with a variety of skills,to deal with a degree or other formal qualification more effectively." According to research conducted by Claire Crawford and Jonathan Cribb of the Center for Youth Analysis in the United Kingdom, “those who choose a gap year have 1.6 percentage points more more likely to obtain a first or second class diploma than those who went straight to higher education.” There are several ways in which gappers can improve their results in higher education. These are the ways: gappers gained experience during their free year, which is useful for their education and gappers have “increased motivation to achieve educational goals. ” (Jones, 2004, p.59) Another benefit for the individual gapper is personal growth. During a gap year one can develop many life skills that will come in handy later in life exposed to new social situations and gain much personal development from these experiences. According to Jones (2004) these are the life skills commonly associated with gap year participation: “increased independence and ability to make decisions; problems; self-discipline; leadership skills; communication skills [e.g. teamwork]; Rabie and Naidoo (2016) state that participants in their research indicated that they acquired many skills during their year off and that this improved their ability to be independent from everything and that they can now manage their time, finances and your own time. responsibilities that come along their path. The skills acquired by gappers can be divided into two categories: soft skills and practical skills. Jones (2004) defines soft skills as the acquisition of interpersonal, communication, managerial and organizational skills. Practical skills were defined by Jones (2004) as the ability of gappers to apply the knowledge acquired during the gap year in their daily activities.1. Transversal skills. In research conducted by Rabie and Naidoo (2016) they state that their participants described being exposed to a variety and many different people during their year off. These social interactions had a great influence on their interpersonal skills. Through the activities they engaged in and the people they worked with, participants expanded their social skills, became adaptable, tolerant, and found themselves needing to consider others.2. Practical skills. The most notable practical skill gained during the gap year was the participants' ability to manage their finances. For example, when you go backpacking, you need to be able to equally divide all the money available for the trip. Other practical skills include learning to cook and learning another language. The next benefit for the single gapper is broadening horizons. By being exposed to all kinds of new situations, gappers experience new situations and broaden their knowledge and perspective on life. Through interaction with people of different cultures and nationalities, participants identified differences between themselves and other people and indirectly gained self-knowledge. who broadened the perspective of one's interests, individual characteristics and personal preferences. Through their exposure to various professional contexts and with time to do in-depth research on different careers, it has increased. Another benefit a gapper can get from their gap year is a boost in confidence. Rabie and Naidoo (2016) found, in their interviews with students who had taken a yearsabbatical, who had increased their confidence in their individual skills and characteristics. “As a result, a gap year served as a period of self-reflection, allowing participants to form a more discerning identity. This provided participants with clarity on their interests and preferences, which ultimately allowed them to decide on a career path.” “The beneficial qualities of a gap year, however, largely depend on how structured and organized the gap year is.” Snee (2014) states that: A key part of gap year success is the recognition that enjoyment is an intrinsic part of the experience, as long as orientations to do something useful are also evident. Therefore, gappers who focus only on fun tell a less successful story than those who find balance, in line with the imperative of being a well-rounded and socially aware person. To summarize, the benefits of taking a gap year are: · Volunteering; · Increased tourism; · Improved academic achievement; · Personal growth; · Broadening horizons; · Increased confidence. Discussion Perhaps the most interesting finding of this report is that there are no unique outcomes. There has been a lot of research done on the influence of gap years and all the findings boil down to the same thing, namely that taking a gap year can have many positive influences on gappers, but also on society. Of course, only the benefits of taking a gap year have been discussed in this report, but obviously there are some disadvantages as well. However, there don't seem to be many downsides. And of course, this can be experienced differently for each gapper. Not all gap years are as successful as others, but overall experiences seem to be quite positive. Gappers have gained a lot of knowledge that will be useful for their life later. This raises many questions. Is it really worth taking a gap year? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? There are several themes in the findings of this article that indicate that the gap year offers a range of opportunities, that it stimulates personal growth, that it helps gappers explore their interests, develop new skills that can be used later in life, and develop your own sense of identity. Conclusion This report was written to answer the question of how taking a gap year can prepare you for your future. A summary of the findings of this report is provided and therefore answers the central research question; How does taking a gap year prepare you for the future? First, the definition of a gap year needed to be defined. Several definitions were found, but the definition this report stuck to was that a gap year is a period in which a gapper may work, travel, or take other personal and professional development opportunities and that the gap year is generally taken before students start secondary school. instruction. Secondly, in order to answer the main question, this report has determined what the reasons for taking a gap year can be. The most common reasons for taking a gap year are: the ability to travel; the ability to become independent; earn money; gain work experience; to take a break from studying and career uncertainty. Additionally, the most common activities during a gap year were discussed. These activities are: travelling, working and volunteering. Finally, this report looked at what the different benefits of taking a gap year are. The benefits of taking a gap year can(62), 843-861.