What is Gap Year? The secret to having a meaningful Gap Year

A gap year is a leave of absence from 6 months to 1 year, usually taken during the transition from high school to university, after graduating from college, or maybe in between job hops. The most Gap Year subjects are high school seniors who are about to enter the threshold of university, it can also be those who are planning to study abroad, university Gap Year students, and students who have graduated from university but have not yet gone to work. People often participate in various types of educational and developmental activities to improve their real, academic, and professional awareness.

So what are the benefits of a gap year? The Gap Year is not merely a respite from stressful school years but also a golden opportunity for you to discover yourself, broaden your horizons, and equip yourself with the necessary life skills. Gap Year offers many opportunities to experience and explore, such as:

Find true passion

Gap Year opens the door for you to step out of your comfort zone, freely explore new jobs, participate in meaningful volunteer activities, or take dream trips. From there, it helps you orient your future career path.

Soft Skills Development

Communication, problem-solving, and adapting skills will be practiced naturally throughout the experience. Exposure to a new environment and new people will help you become more mature, more confident, and have more valuable living capital.

Expand relationships

You will have the opportunity to get to know people from many other countries and cultures, thereby broadening your horizons and building strong relationships. These relationships do not only stop at friendship but can also become potential partners and future colleagues.

Learn how to manage your finances effectively

When you are independent during the gap year, you will have to balance your spending, learn how to save and manage your finances smartly. This helps you practice reasonable spending habits and the ability to make clear financial plans, an extremely necessary skill for later life.

Increase career opportunities

Practical experiences from jobs, projects, or volunteer activities in the gap year will be a big plus in the eyes of employers. They always appreciate candidates who are experienced, have good adaptability, and possess solid soft skills.

Currently, there are many ways to implement a Gap Year. To make your Gap Year more meaningful and not waste time, you can do one of the four activities below:

3.1. Try your hand at a new field of work

Students can try their hand at jobs or professions that they like for the purpose of experience, not to make money. From there, these young people will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with the real environment, and learn more about the profession they are choosing.

Some part-time jobs so that you can earn extra income during the Gap Year period include:

• Writing

• Translation (Content, compilation)

• Travel/food blogger

• Part-time credit specialist

• Teaching assistants, part-time teachers

• CTV online sales, online business

• Staff on duty

• Service staff,...

In addition, you can work in a workstation mode (both working and traveling). This combination helps you be more flexible, able to complete work, have fun, and relax while still having enough money to pay. This is definitely a popular working trend in the future.

3.2. Become a volunteer

Spending a year as a volunteer will help you build relationships, hone more life skills, gain more experience, and supplement and beautify your CV in the future.

Volunteer work is easy to find, and available everywhere. What you need to do is look for a volunteer job that matches your personality, skills, and interests.

Volunteer jobs are often called for and posted by charities and NGOs,... Here, the work that volunteers usually do is organize events, fundraising, administrative, legal, play, teach, take care of children, humanitarian blood donation, conservation, exploration,...

3.3. "Pick up your backpack and go"

To have a perfect and memorable Gap Year, go to the places you like, you have long wished to set foot in. You can choose to travel domestically or abroad, which is entirely up to your budget and preferences.

This time helps you to preserve and share beautiful moments of yourself, places, or experiences. In addition, it also helps you consolidate more knowledge, and cultural understanding, practice life skills, adaptability to situations, survival skills, and expand many new relationships.

3.4. Extra learning

Immediately register for an activity, a subject, or a course that you love to expand and improve your skills and knowledge. In addition, you can also participate in exams and student exchange programs with countries around the world, thereby having more interesting experiences.

In addition, this is also a suitable time for you to improve your foreign language proficiency or prepare for certificates to register to study abroad. If you are planning to study abroad or are in the process of preparing to study abroad, contact our IDP for advice and answers to your questions!

Learning more things you like is the ideal choice during the Gap Year

To turn this Gap Year into a meaningful journey, here are some tips you can't ignore:

Choose a meaningful activity

To make your Gap Year truly meaningful, take the time to engage in activities that will not only help you relax but also expand your horizons and develop yourself. This is a great opportunity for you to participate in volunteer programs, explore new cultures through trips, or learn new skills.

These experiences will help you grow, find your passion, and have unforgettable memories. Choose activities that can bring long-term value to your life and career.

Financial Management

One of the important factors to have a smooth Gap Year is effective financial management. Plan your spending wisely from the start, budget for all activities, and make sure you have enough finances to sustain it throughout your vacation. In addition, looking for extra income or savings in advance is also a way to ensure you have enough resources for exciting trips and experiences.

Don't forget to create a reserve fund to prevent unexpected situations. Good financial management will help you enjoy the Gap Year without worrying about money.

Whether you're in high school and want to spend a gap year preparing for college, or you're in college and want to take advantage of your gap year before you get a master's degree, this can bring a lot of positive value if you plan carefully. However, the Gap Year can affect the study abroad application process if you are not thoroughly prepared or do not know how to effectively present the Gap Year experience in your application.

Most Australian universities accept a gap year that lasts between 1-2 years, as long as you can clearly explain the purpose and value of this time. However, if the Gap Year period exceeds 3 years, you need to prepare enough documents to prove more meaningful activities to convince the school.

To avoid affecting your study abroad profile, you need to learn in detail before deciding on a gap year journey. The Australian Government only accepts 1-2 years of gap year for students and has documents proving that the gap year time is reasonable if it is related to the following issues:

• Health problems

• Family and financial issues

• Desire to learn work experience

• Participate in a certain contest

• Volunteer Activities

Above is information to help you answer questions about what is a gap year and the secret to having a meaningful gap year. Hopefully, the above sharing will help you prepare your luggage firmly to be ready to enter a meaningful and memorable Gap Year journey.

IDP supports free study abroad application preparation if there is a Gap Year

If you plan to take a gap year before studying abroad, contact IDP for advice on your gap year goals as well as a suitable route to avoid affecting your study abroad profile. Suppose you have completed the gap year program. In that case, IDP will accompany you from the first steps of your study abroad journey, from choosing the right school and major to preparing your application to support you in hunting for scholarships to study and registering for the IELTS test.

Please contact the IDP 19006955 hotline to get experienced experts in study study advice and more details!