Gap Year Or University: Making the Right Decision

After my finishing my A levels I found myself in a position where I wanted to sit back and relax for as long as I possibly could. I was fed up with living a mundane and repetitive lifestyle where I worked like a robot for the duration of the day – post breakfast.

I envisioned myself spending my days on sunny beaches and travelling around exotic parts of the world – although what I’d heard about university sounded very appealing to me. The thought of travelling around the world for a year excited me even more –  purely because it would be a stress-free year

I sat down with my parents and we weighed up the pros and cons of both options. After much discussion and deliberation, we collectively decided that going on a gap year would not be the most suitable option for me, and that going straight to university was probably better. Despite the fact that my parents were strongly against the idea of me taking a gap year, I’d be lying if I said university didn’t look like an exciting opportunity.

Going to university straight after you leave school has many positives. For example, you get to start your university career early – with people your own age.  It also gives you freedom and independence, as well as the opportunity to study one topic that you’re passionate about. It’s also useful because the transition into study mode is not as difficult, then let’s say if you have taken a year out.

On the other hand…

Undertaking a gap year and travelling the world had a lot of merits, but I soon realised it also had its negatives too.

After chatting with my parents, I began to understand that a gap year would actually be a very costly endeavor and that I’d need to work for a significant amount of time before I could afford to go travelling.

To get more of an idea of what being abroad long-term was like, I spoke to some people who had just returned from their travels. I was surprised to learn that it wasn’t all seamless and easy. One girl even said that there were times were she felt homesick and low. Another friend of mine told me that she found that getting ill in these exotic countries was far from ideal. She cited poor health care and a lack of basic services as reasons for this, and that I should be prepared for dealing with services and infrastructures that were poor in comparison to the UK, if I did decide to travel for a number of months

I believe I made the correct decision to go straight to university. I think this is because I am someone who needs structure and organisation in my life. In my opinion, this is something which education provides. Although I have missed out on a great opportunity, gap years are not once in a lifetime – as they are often portrayed as.

For me, I think it’s probably more appropriate to travel for a year once you’ve completed university. I believe this is because university not only matures you as a person but it teaches you many life skills that would be beneficial for travelling.

Lizzie Exton writes for Inspiring Interns, which specialises in sourcing candidates for internships. To browse our graduate jobs London listings, visit our website.