WRITING ACTIVITY 4  Final Draft Due Week 9 and worth 300 points Instructions: Your final draft should reflect the work you have done to develop your ideas, identify counter perspectives, gather cred

There should be a Gap after High School

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There Should be a Gap After High School

Mark Black once stated that “Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.” Taking a break from your daily routine is essential as it makes one more productive. Students should be encouraged to take rest after completing high school before they enroll in colleges. They should be encouraged to take gap years are after completing high school and before joining college. Some scholars feel that this gap is beneficial while others consider it a waste of time and time to be lazy among the high school leavers. Those who consider it beneficial have the opinion that gap year has multiple benefits that blend together across many areas. We have gap years being adopted in various countries to enjoy the benefits they bring along. For instance, in the United Kingdom and Australia, statistics show that students who take a gap year register higher grade points than those who went straight to college, including those who had lower achievements in high school. This implies that the gap year can be transformed into an active year to serve its purpose. In fact, there is a lot of engagement a student can participate in after high school that will be beneficial to their lives in future (Joseph, 2011).

Taking on a structured gap year develops the person into a more focused individual and student with a sense of purpose, identity and relation to the world. One of the major reasons for a gap year is to take advantage of the world of possibilities (Sue, 2007). This time could be used to learn new skills, travel around the world and get exposed. The world offers countless of opportunities and exposes you to different problems that you would rightfully choose a career to solve. The uniqueness of each experience especially with travelling opens up the mind. The world full of knowledge awaiting our exploration of it. We get to have better understanding of ourselves the more we travel and are exposed (Andrew, 2011). A lot of information and insight is stored in the world that acts as one supernatural library.

Gap year break offers a chance for the student to be prepared for college life and experience. Researchers prove that, students who take gap years before embarking on their undergraduate tend to perform better and choose career paths satisfying to their taste and who they are as individuals (Andrew, 2010). Moreover, they are more likely to finish college than those who directly enrolled. Gap year offers time to critically evaluate oneself without pressure in order to best choose what's best. It gives a student time to define new image for their prospective colleges. Students who directly enrol to college have a much more difficult time just trying to process in the change.

The gap year offers enough time for disabled students who may require space to master specific skills to be on an equal platform as an average student at the college. For disabled students, this gap is a golden opportunity for them to make necessary adjustments (Lynn, 2007). For learning to be transformational, it has to accommodate everyone without discrimination and with consideration. Recent research has predicted that a few years to come, the population of disabling workforce in the market will be eliminated if specific measures are not followed to the later. One of the solutions to this problem is having a gap year for disabled students to feel appreciated.

A counter perspective of the popular gap year is the lost momentum. Months away from a classroom and the academic rigor could result to loss of study skills. Getting the motivation to go back to school and be comfortable may be a bit difficult (Andrew, 2010). There is also a possibility of postponement to go back to class until subconsciously one decides it’s not necessary anymore. Others may be allure d by the life outside school and a lot of other things may come around in life and the morale to go back to school slowly fades away. Additionally, some individuals do not have intentionality to their gap year therefore it ends up being a waste of time and career delay.

Gap year provides the students with several options that when utilized to the maximum may be greatly beneficial. This reignites passion for learning and the ability to contextualize formal education using real world experience after refuelling from academic burn out. All work with no play and break makes Jack a dull boy.

References

Andrew, K. (2011). “Minding the gap? Young people’s accounts of taking a Gap Year as a form of identity work in higher education.” Journal of Youth Studies. Vol 14, Issue 3. Pages 341-357

Andrew, M. (2010). “Should students have a gap year? Motivation and performance factors relevant to time out after completing school.” Journal of Educational Psychology. Vol 102, Issue 3. Pp. 561.

Joseph, O. (2011). “Delaying the academy: A gap year education.” Journal of Teaching in Higher Education. Vol 16, Issue 3. Pages 565-577.

Lynn, A. (2007). “Bridging the Transition Gap from High School to College; Preparing Students with Disabilities for a Successful Postsecondary Experience.” Teaching Exceptional Children. Vol 40, Issue 2. Pp. 12-15.