Comments on: The Gap Year: Would You Do It?

By: Monique Fischle

Monique Fischle — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 04:52:05 +0000

Haha it better pay. I’m consistently told “wow, you have so much experience” followed by “but it’s not enough”!

By: Melissa Savage

Melissa Savage — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:24:21 +0000

I didn’t do a gap year because I thought the only way to do it was to travel, and I didn’t have the money to do that. I also wanted to just keep in the rhythm of studying, like Mon, and as she says, there was a 4 month break anyway.

I was also already 18, I’d turned 18 in the April of Year 12, and I didn’t want to waste any more time getting on with my ‘real’ life.

My brother ended up accidentally having a couple of gap years after getting a bad mark, but it worked out fine for him in the end: he got a job as a law clerk, worked his way up to being a paralegal and is currently a couple of subjects off getting his law degree.

Totally depends on the person in question. The other advantage in working for a year is that you become ‘independent’ for Centrelink purposes, which for me would have made the difference between being able to move out of home and not. In my case that would have helped considerably because home was with my alcoholic dad.

By: Rose Russo

Rose Russo — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 06:51:24 +0000

You are still young Jess… I hope you have a blast

By: Rose Russo

Rose Russo — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 06:42:35 +0000

That’s true JJ… no regrets! You might not be where you are now!

By: Rose Russo

Rose Russo — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 06:41:51 +0000

I think your intern work will pay in dividends for the future – hands on experience is the best experience!

By: Jess C

Jess C — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 03:41:09 +0000

I’m strongly considering packing up and moving to London at the end of next year when I finish studying. I’ll be 25 and all I’ll have to show for it is a Bachelor degree, Masters degree and an overseas trip (Europe – this month!). I have this strong feeling that I need to get my career going, and I want to travel… so I think London is the place to be. I wish I’d taken a gap year after school to get a better picture if what I wanted to do – though I only had my career epiphany last year so maybe it wouldn’t have been any good anyway.

By: John James

John James — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 02:08:38 +0000

In hindsight I think I should have taken a Gap year…I don’t think I was emotionally ready for Uni…paradoxically, I think I would have been better taking a year off, finding some part-time work, and using the experience to toughen-up and grow-up a bit…

…but then again, I’m so happy with where I am today, doing things differently then might have meant that I would be somewhere different now…

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 01:45:01 +0000

I have taken two gap years. But only went overseas for 6 months. Didn’t really do the “typical” travelling thing…

I had pneumonia in year 12 and decided to defer my university place so that I had a chance to recover and also to earn some money – so I could qualify as independant from my parents and get centrelink’s assistance once I did start studying. I moved to Sydney right after Christmas of my Year 12 year and started working. I’ll spare you the details but in that July I moved to the UK, where I had citizenship so could keep earning money. I regret not doing more travel while I was there – with the continent so close.

After doing my four years of undergrad study, I knew that my next career step would be a post-grad course, but due to various factors I decided to work for another year before getting back to studying. Not terribly exciting. But still, I think, a gap year. And it was actually a very good decision, career-wise, as the job I had that year helped me improve my ability to get the job I wanted after my graduate diploma!

I think gap years are a terrific idea. I particularly support the idea of taking a year between high school and uni – especially for people who are only 17 (or younger!) when they finish school. Seeing something of the world (whether you’re travelling or just working a full time job) really builds some maturity and prepares you to make better decisions about all sorts of things when you get to uni. You just have to be prepared to be a year or two older than your classmates, and it can be a little hard to get back into good study habits

By: Monique Fischle

Monique Fischle — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 01:42:09 +0000

I didn’t do a gap year because I knew if I did, I wouldn’t be able to get back into the swing of study. Plus, there was a 4 month break between HSC and Uni starting so I got my break. If you’re going to be spending a ridiculous amount of time at uni, if you are studying something like medicine or whatnot, I think a gap year is a really good idea.

As life would turn out, I’m having an unintentional “gap year” after finishing uni, just not working or travelling, just doing lots of work for free and applying for a million jobs!