Off the beaten path

"I don't know what I want to do"

"My biggest worry is not getting a job after having paid £9000 a year"

…are some of the worries currently facing students who have big decisions to make.

The plan for the majority of people conscious or not has always been Primary school, Secondary, College then University. But at £9000 a year that route has come under questioning. Questions like: Is a degree worth that amount (A question posed by the Independent's Frances Perraudin)? Do I really need university to be successful?  Or even happy? Statistically with a degree you earn £160,000 more over a life time than without one. On the other hand there's the case for figures such as Alan Sugar, Richard Branson and Bill Gates who either didn't attend or simply dropped out.

Perhaps higher education takes a back seat in the face of £40,000 worth of debt. In the economy that we currently find ourselves in maybe going "off the beaten path" is a better idea…  If so, then there are numerous people who didn't attend university and are now self made millionaires but if that's not for you…there are other available routes. For example: What about a gap year?

Travel

Go explore, travel the globe. There are possibilities such as Europe or Thailand (maybe not Libya or any country in the midst of uprising). You never know, your gap year could turn into a "gap life" and who wouldn't want the chance to learn a new language. You can plan your own or go with a planned program. Just get out there!

Internships: Who needs a traditional edjumacation?

If you already know what you want to do, get an internship whether it be corporate or arts based. Magazines, Accounting and Business internships are always available. If you have a specific career field in mind, then go for it, work your way up. Who knows where you might end up? And who doesn't love a "self made man"?

Volunteer work

There's no end to people who need help, so if the idea of taking time off from yourself and focusing that on someone else sounds enticing, then there's a whole list of organisations that need people just like you. Habitat for Humanity for example allows you to help someone build a home from the ground up: that then belongs to them. Perhaps you'd rather conservation volunteering or maybe teaching sports to kids in countries like Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica or South Africa. You might just end up having met the next Ronaldinho.

Still undecided?

Then this section is for you. Convenient. I know. Here's a list of the pros and cons of taking a year out.

Pros on taking a gap year

1.       It gives you time to think about what you want to do: a year may turn into a lifetime if you find something you love.

2.       You gain valuable experience of a range of skills that come in useful as well as having stories to bore your future kids with. "Well on my gap year…."

3.       If volunteering was your chosen option then you've spent a year helping someone out. Whether you believe in karma or not, it feels good doesn't it?

Cons on taking a gap year

1.       If you decide that the "off the beaten path" isn't for you then you'll be a year behind your friends at university and will have spent money that could have been used for that university course.

2.       Some universities (I name no names) wish you to start straight away lest you forget your previous education.

3.       I think that's pretty much it ….This point is for show of a balanced argument.

 

If you want my opinion and let's not deceive ourselves, I think you do: Think about it. Take a year/life out. Bottom line: Do something! The fence is not a good place to sit.

Useful websites to check out:

http://www.gapyeardirectory.co.uk/gap-year__Volunteer-Placements_.aspx

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Alternatives_to_University_-_A_General_Overview