Many people debate whether or not they would like to take a gap year between graduating from high school and starting their freshman year at college. Some tend to assume that once you take a year off you’re not going to want to go back. Lots of students burn out on going to school, seeing that they’ve been learning there for ten plus years.

A gap year can give you a healthy break that you need while you recompose yourself for the very important chapter that lies ahead of you. Taking a gap year between high school and college can be tremendously beneficial to one’s personal growth, whether one decides on enrolling in a structured gap year program, spend time volunteering abroad or simply traveling the world.

If you choose to take a gap year in a foreign country, you are allowing yourself the opportunity to learn in a completely different way. Instead of simply reading about other cultures and places in books, students in a gap year program learn by experiencing those cultures and places directly. These programs allow you to completely immerse yourself in a culture that’s different than the one you’re used to. Some of the experiences you make can help you to decide what you want to do before you begin studying. Knowing this will help to cut down the stress and time committed to discovering a major while already taking classes in college.

Students worry that colleges admissions officials and professors will disapprove of those who take gap years, but in reality many colleges show preference to these specific students. A gap year can teach you the independence and maturity needed to make the most of college. This shows when students get to campus, because students who took gap years show to be much more involved on campus and have higher GPAs.

Why take a gap year after high school? The better question is why not? There are so many benefits and so many places that have yet to be seen by you. Get out and discover!