ENGLISH

ASSIGNMENT
NAME- VEDANTI SHINDE
CLASS- FYBA (SELF-FINANCE)
SECTION- D
ROLL NO - 215917
NEW TREND : A GAP IN HIGHER
EDUCATION
DON’T FOLLOW THE HEADLINES , FOLLOW TREND
LINES
TREND ?WHAT DOES THIS TREND MEANS ? A TREND IS A
CHANGE OR DEVELOPMENT TOWARDS SOMETHING
NEW OR DIFFERENT. TO SET A TREND MEANS TO DO
SOMETHING THAT BECOMES ACCEPTED , AND THAT A
LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE FOLLOW .NOWADAYS,PEOPLE
ARE LOOKING FORWARD FOR SOME REALLY GOOD NEW
TRENDS.
REGARDLESS OF CRISIS, THE WORLD IS ALWAYS
CHANGING. THERE IS A DYNAMIC NATURE TO CULTURE
THAT KEEPS IT CONSTANTLY PUSHING AND PULLING IN
DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. THIS PUSH AND PULL IS A
REFLECTION OF CHANGING IDEOLOGIES AND SIGNALS
POTENTIAL TRENDS IN CULTURE.

THESE TRENDS MAY TAKE YEARS, OR DECADES, TO FIRMLY

ESTABLISH THEMSELVES. BUT, WHEN THEY DO, THE NEW
BELIEFS AND VALUES CHANGE PEOPLE’S BEHAVIOR AND
THE TREND IS FULLY NORMALIZED.
NOWADAYS A NEW TREND IS TAKING PLACE , A GAP IN
HIGHER EDUCATION . TAKING A YEAR’S BREAK BETWEEN HIGH
SCHOOL AND COLLEGE OR BETWEEN UNDERGRADUATE AND
GRADUATE STUDIES IS SAID TO BE A ‘GAP YEAR’. TAKING A GAP YEAR IS
BECOMING INCREASINGLY POPULAR WITH STUDENTS TODAY. THIS IS A
TIME WHEN THE STUDENT TAKES TIME AWAY FROM ACADEMIC
PURSUITS AND EXPLORES OTHER WAYS THAT CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT BY VOLUNTEERING IN INTERNATIONAL
PROGRAMS OR STUDYING COURSES AND GAINING PRACTICAL
EXPOSURE IN SOME FIELD THAT INTERESTS HIM OR HER APART FROM
COLLEGE STUDIES. THESE ACTIVITIES IN TURN CONTRIBUTE TO ONE’S
GROWTH PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY. IN MANY COUNTRIES,
YOUNGSTERS ARE OFTEN ENCOURAGED TO TAKE AN YEAR OFF, TO
WORK OR TRAVEL ACROSS THE WORLD, BEFORE EMBARKING ON THEIR
FORMAL UNIVERSITY EDUCATION.
EVERY THING HAS ITS OWN MERITS AND DEMERITS .SAME GOES WITH
TRENDS ALSO .AND THIS TREND,GAP - YEAR ALSO HAS NUMEROUS
MERITS AND A FEW DEMERITS, WHICH WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THIS
ESSAY. TO BEGIN WITH, THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGE OF TAKING
SABBATICAL TO EXPLORE THE WORLD IS THAT IT GIVES THEM AN
OPPORTUNITY TO DISCOVER THEIR CAREER INTEREST. SUCH TRIPS ARE
NOT ONLY FUN , BUT ALSO  GIVES  THEM  A CHANCE  TO  SOCIALISE ,
ENGAGE IN VOLUNTEERING, AND UNDERSTAND GLOBAL ISSUES  AND
GLOBAL CULTURE . THIS HELPS THEM TO DISCOVER THEIR REAL
PASSION WHICH IS THE FOUNDATION STONE FOR A FULFILLING
CAREER. FOR INSTANCE, DATA FROM HARVARD UNIVERSITY, 2010,
POINTED OUT THAT DROP-OUT RATE FROM UNIVERSITY COURSES IS
AROUND 10 PERCENT LESS IN THOSE CHILDREN WHO CHOSE THE
COURSE AFTER TAKING A “GAP YEAR” IN COMPARISON TO THOSE WHO
HEADED STRAIGHT TO UNIVERSITY AFTER THE HIGH SCHOOL. IN
ADDITION TO THIS, WORKING FOR A YEAR BEFORE STARTING
UNIVERSITY REDUCES THE FINANCIAL BURDEN OF HIGHER EDUCATION
TO AN EXTENT. AS THE ADVANCED STUDIES ARE COSTLY IN MOST
COUNTRIES, WORKING FOR A YEAR HELPS THEM IN SAVING MONEY SO
THEY HAVE TO BORROW LESS MONEY AND ARE UNDER LESS FINANCIAL
DEBT, WHEN THEY START HIGHER_STUDIES.
IN CONTRAST TO ABOVE VIEWPOINTS, THE MOST SIGNIFICANT
DISADVANTAGE OF SUCH A BREAK IS THAT IT CAN BE A DISTRACTION
FROM FURTHER STUDIES. SOME STUDENTS FIND SUCH BREAKS SO
RELAXING AND ENJOYABLE THAT THEY DECIDE TO SHUN FURTHER
STUDIES PERMANENTLY. THEIR STUDY SKILLS MAY DIMINISHED,
THUS MAKING IT HARDER FOR THEM TO ADJUST TO LIFE IN
EDUCATION. THIS CAN BE PARTICULARLY TRUE FOR
MATHEMATICS OR PHYSICS STUDENTS, OR ANY COURSE THAT
INVOLVES COMPLEX THEORETICAL PROCESSES AND TECHNIQUES
THAT MAY NOT BE USED OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM.SECONDLY,
SOME INSTITUTIONS DO NOT LOOK FAVOURABLY UPON DROP YEAR
STUDENTS, PARTICULARLY IF THEY DID NOT INCORPORATE
ENOUGH CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES INTO THEIR YEAR OFF.
TRAVELLING FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME CAN BE DIFFICULT AND
UNCOMFORTABLE, AND THE DAILY CHALLENGES OF ADJUSTING TO
A NEW ENVIRONMENT CAN BE EMOTIONAL.THEY MAY SIMPLY
FIND THAT THEY DID NOT GET THE EXPERIENCE THEY WERE
HOPING FOR.

ALTHOUGH THE INCIDENCES OF SUCH CASES ARE FEW, THE

EFFECTS CAN BE DISASTROUS FOR THEIR FURTHER CAREER.
FOR INSTANCE, A 2010 REPORT FROM FLORIDA UNIVERSITY
REVEALED THAT 1 IN 100 STUDENTS, WHO TAKE “GAP-
YEAR” NEVER GO FOR ADVANCED STUDIES AND STRUGGLE
THROUGHOUT THEIR LIFE TO MAKE THE ENDS MEET
BECAUSE OF BEING UNSKILLED.
TO CONCLUDE, THE BREAK OF A YEAR TAKEN BEFORE
PURSUING UNIVERSITY STUDIES HELPS STUDENTS TO
DISCOVER THEIR CAREER INTEREST AND ALSO ALLOWS
THEM TO CONSOLIDATE FINANCIALLY. HOWEVER, FOR A
MINORITY OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES IT CAN LEAD TO
AN END OF  AN ACADEMIC CAREER .

BOOK REVIEW
NAME OF THE BOOK - The Last Thing He
Told Me

NAME OF THE AUTHOR- Laura Dave

SUMMARY OF THE BOOK- We all have stories we never
tell. Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle
a note to his beloved wife of one year: PROTECT HER

Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to

whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey.
Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who
wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go

unanswered; as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss; as a US Marshal
and FBI agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced,
Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was.
And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s
true identity—and why he really disappeared.

Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth, together. But as
they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon
realize they are also building a new future. One neither Hannah
nor Bailey could have anticipated.

SOME QUOTES FROM BOOK-

1. “He never understood that I wasn’t scared of someone leaving
me, I was scared that the wrong person would stay.” 
2.“This is the thing about good and evil. They aren't so far apart
- and they often start from the same valiant place of wanting
something to be different.”

MY REVIEW ON BOOK- “DON’T ASK A QUESTION

YOU DON’T WANT THE ANSWER TO”

The Last Thing He Told Me , is a mystery/domestic suspense about a man

living a lie and his wife and daughter who struggle to discover who he really is

When Hannah Hall receives a note from her husband stating nothing more than
“Protect her,” one random afternoon, her whole world shatters. Her husband Owen
has disappeared without a trace, and she soon learns that he was not the man she
thought he was. Charged with taking care of her contentious stepdaughter, Bailey,
she and Bailey slowly begin to investigate Owen leading them to danger and a
startling revelation.

This was my first Laura Dave book, and she hooked me right from the start. Her
writing style, the characters, the plot, and the pacing felt authentic. Hannah
narrates events in the present moment, but we also get flashbacks to her marriage
to Owen. It helped that Hannah doesn’t feel sorry for herself. Her emotions are
subtle, real, and honest.

While the mystery of Owen’s past is intriguing, the strength of this book lies in the
characters. This is not as much about Hannah's relationship with Owen, but more
about her relationship with Bailey. I didn’t love the epilogue, but it does offer
some closure. Overall, I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read more by
Laura Dave!

RATINGS-