A Gap Year: Just Say No

Dr. Matthew Lynch from, “Education New” states that, “Students tend to forget a lot during summer break, so a shorter time away from school might increase retention rates” (Watson). Dr.Lynch is saying that having a shorter summer break will tend more to the students, because they will remember and learn more than what a student who has the whole summer off.

Summer break is supposed to be a time of rest and rejuvenation for students. After nine months of hard work and challenging classes, one would think such a long break could do nothing but good for students; however, this is not the best way for young minds to learn. A three month break is far too long for children to go without proper education and supervision. Instead of a long three month break at the end of each school year, why not give students the same number of days off but spread them out more frequently throughout the year? Year-round education is a more efficient, globally competitive, and fair alternative to the traditional nine month school year.

A large portion of the knowledge gained during the last school year is lost over the long idle months and must be retaught for weeks, which wastes a lot of time that could be spent learning new material. This puts students behind in that year’s curriculum, and over many summers, can add up to students being months or years behind where they would be if no learning was lost. There is a solution to this

Since the student is currently learning some independence, this is a great time where they can get to know themselves better. During a gap year, students have the opportunity to get to know them as well as learn what they want to do in life (Ma, 2014). Back in 2013, there were interviews given to many students at different universities, about their experience with a gap year. A student by the name of Eden Full, Princeton University, stated that since he was young, he was always on the path to success. With a gap year, it had given him time to learn some new skills and explore some new interests that he had never had before (Lazaro, 2013). Another student by the name of Tiffany Yanagida, a computer science major at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, stated that a gap year had given her some time to find out her future career path. This was something that she had no idea about at the young age of 18 (Lazaro, 2013). This is a great time to have fun, build up your social network, and go out and enjoy the world.

Under a year-round schedule, the students benefit by having smaller breaks, meaning they can quickly snap back to previously learned information. When information is stored, but not used for an extended period of time, anyone can lose that information. Due to the shorter breaks, students may find it difficult to find a summer job, or a job at all, but there are jobs that work with students or maybe just limit their time at the workplace.

In the article, “How Much Does Stress Affect Learning by , it says , “Stress…negatively affects the way children pay attention in class, stay on task, and are able to move from one activity to another.” This stress that students deal with is not a good thing and it can also cause teachers to become stressed. The short breaks that come with a year-round school year allows students to get rid of this stress, and relax. In the article, “Year-round schooling:An overview” it states, “teachers and students experience less stress and burnout during year-round schedule because of the multiple short breaks available throughout the year.” This reveals the fact that year-round schooling can decrease the level of stress a teacher or student has opposed to the basic school year. The short breaks that come with a year-round school year allows students to get rid of this stress, and relax. It also gets rid of the mental problems that come with the stress.

Year-round schooling is characterized by its 45-90 day periods of instruction (varying with different multitrack systems) separated by 15-30 day breaks (varying with different multitrack systems) (California Department of Education). There is no current scientific evidence to show that year-round education lessens the amount of material forgotten during the summer (McMillen 68); in fact, this memory loss is maximized as it occurs more frequently as it accompanies the shorter, habitual breaks. Constant breaks can also multiply some of summer’s negative effects. One common issue associated with summer is students’ loss of focus as summer approaches and trouble becoming accustomed to the beginning of the following school year (Worsnop 439). This would be a, though minimized, a recurring difficulty with constant breaks. Furthermore, teachers

Students normally feel more refreshed after breaks and are willing to get back into learning and doing school work. Since there are many breaks in a year-round schedule, students learn more due to the fact that they receive many breaks to get refreshed. People may think the traditional schedule is better because you get a long summer break, but it is not necessarily better. Coming back to school in September after a long relaxing summer break, students tend to forget everything they learned the previous school year.

Year round school eliminates regression of learning due to extended time off. Having a year round school can reduce what people known as summer learning loss ("The Pros"). Almost every child will experience a decrease in their math over the time of summer break each summer break ("SUMMER LEARNING"). “On an average students lose two months of reading skills over summer” ("SUMMER LEARNING"). After

By taking this time off to explore what life has to offer, this decision has made several students feel more mature as young adults. They were able to understand who they have become, and able to handle pressures in life that came along such as basic stereotyping, patience with others, and feeling more mature than their peers when they return to college. With using a year in between school and college, one can defer their application to college and go figure out what type of person they will become. Some get upset with going to college that first year and by taking the year off, most students come back with some life changing skills that enable them to have the traits, skillset and firsthand knowledge to deal with the first year of college situations such as parties, ethics, and alcohol. Most students feel that by taking this time off, it helps in their growth and not just mentally, but spiritually. One female even lost faith during her first year as a result of her experience. After hearing of the rape of one of the orphans, she recalled her religious doubts: “How can God let this happen?” (Shea, J. pg. 570). Many colleges are allowing more students to apply for a gap year. “In 2009, Princeton University launched a fully subsidized international volunteering gap year option for incoming undergraduates to encourage an international perspective and

Why do people take a gap year? Since all of us are students, I’m pretty sure you would like to hear and know about what a gap year can do to us.

However, gap year is not as fantastic as it might seem. Gap year can make a student lose their flow of things. They will not be so willing to study as they don’t want to go back to the stress and rigor of academic life. It takes the student away from classroom experience. Gap year means that the student will lose a year of learning, of education. It makes you fall further behind your peers; this can put you at a disadvantage particularly if one is going to med school or law school. Additionally some gap years can be expensive especially if one is traveling. This could make college harder to afford. All in all gap year has its pros and cons, but it’s in the will of the student to say how fit it is for them.

The break calls for staying up late and waking up whenever you want to. Everyone works so hard during the school year, so they deserve that free time. Summer times are stress free, relaxing, and basically fun. You don’t have to worry about homework, projects, and studying for a test. One of my favorite summer pastimes is staying up late watching movies and eating junk food, and then waking up late and having brunch.

Though there are many advantages to taking a gap year, there are just as many disadvantages. People may find themselves unwilling to go back to school, they may lose opportunities for scholarships, or they might not have enough money to support the activities they replace school with. Even their social life could be affected. With all of these negative aspects one may ask, why would anyone risk taking a gap year?

Various disadvantages, moreover dangers, have to be taken into consideration about the gap year. The notion of going against the social norm and/ or breaking tradition, to a higher degree in the US, can be difficult for adolescents to overcome. As Killen notes