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.
Nowadays young people often encounter impediments when it comes to deciding what to do after finishing high
school. Some of them take a gap year, whereas others directly start studying. However, both ways have its
advantages and drawbacks.
Firstly, one of the most important arguments in favour of a gap year is an opportunity to get to know yourself
better. Spending some time outside the comfort zone allows to mature and get a more vivid perception about
what a person wants from life. However, a negative aspect of such break is a huge challenge to spend a year
efficiently, without significant time wasting. In some cases, young people take a gap year and not only become a
couch potato but also forget what have they already learned and refuse the idea to start new course.
On the other hand, most of all school-leavers choose to apply for universities straight away. In such a way a
person graduates and gets in a labour market one year earlier than it would be with a gap year. Despite that, there
are some drawbacks of deciding to do like this. Firstly, not everyone deeply understands theirs desires right away
after school which cause a choice based on emotions, therefore later a person may find that course does not suit
him or her and drops it. Moreover, the tuition fees and life expenses require a lot of money, therefore school-
leavers should consider whether they will cope with payments because often students drop their studies due to the
lack of money.
To conclude, there are some strong arguments of taking a gap year or going straight to university. however some
disadvantages of both ways force to think before any decisions. 279