Making the Most of A Gap Year by Claudia

Making the Most of A Gap Year by Claudia - August 2019 Scholarship Essay

Making the most of a gap year can be both rewarding and beneficial. I think there are many benefits when considering a gap year. I graduated from my high school in 2016, thinking I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. When in reality, there are so many majors out there and numerous career paths that can be followed. High schools do their best to prepare us for secondary education, but they can’t prepare you for what college is really like. I know a lot of my peers changed their majors several times. I changed my major a couple of times as well and realized instead of wasting money it made sense for me to take a gap year to really think about what I wanted to do. Some of us are fortunate enough to afford the costs of college while changing majors whereas some of us are not. This is when I decided to take a gap year to really figure out what I wanted to do.
During my gap year, I worked full time to save money for my returning semester. When making the most of something, it needs to be done to its fullest. Whether that be working hard and saving money or taking time to volunteer for different organizations to get that one-on-one experience. Many people thought I wouldn’t go back to school after taking a year off, however that time allowed me to decided that I wanted to pursue a career in nursing.Nursing has made a huge impact on my life. Throughout my gap year, I came to understand that nursing is more than a job rather it’s about the patient and their well being.
If it weren’t for my decision to take a gap year, I would just be taking classes in order to meet the graduation requirement. Making the most of a gap year involves taking the time to figure out what you want to do while you’re in college. Maybe you travel and experience different cultures that you can then use during your studies. Once high school is over, a lot of us are burnt out from the constant 7-3 school hours, endlessly studying and testing. I think gap years are a lot more beneficial than what others perceive them to be.