High school students should be actively encouraged to take a gap year. High school, is generally known to prepare you for college. However, students after graduating high school fail to prepare what they want to do, but where they can go to figure that part out.

Gap years, are a students choice to take a year off after high school. But, gap years aren’t just breaks, it’s a moment to learn what you enjoy, possible future jobs, learn income, and better understand the concepts of the world.

People might view a gap year and assume it’s a waste of time, or just a year long break. This idea can be true to some extent, however taking a break is much more than just a break. A senior, Devin Lin, from Eleanor Roosevelt states, “gap years are pretty cool, it helps you explore yourself more.” The statement helps us understand that students feel as they aren’t exactly prepared for what they want to do in life, and going to college right away might not fix this issue, but make you experience more burnout when starting college right away.

When discussing about a student’ s future, it’s important to understand how much value certain decisions hold. Another senior in Eleanor Roosevelt, Adree Chen shares, “gap years feel pointless, you’re just wasting your time.” Which, points out that some students do assume gap years are a “waste of time”, helping us indicate they have a strong idea of what they want to be in the future for the rest of their future.

Whether students decide on taking a gap year or not, I would argue giving students the opportunity to think instead of encouraging students to start college right away would help them with choice and better help them do what they love I the future. Taking a proper gap year, and not just using it as a break can help you in any situation no matter how confident you are with your path for your own future.