Taking a gap year 'will increase skills and confidence'
Tuesday, December 23, 2008Students who take a gap year will be able to go to university with more skills and a more mature outlook on life, it has been claimed.
Asa Sokopo, writing for Dispatch Online, said that the time away from parents and the fact that people can earn money through working at their destinations, can make a person more independent and aware of the benefits of hard work.
Kirsty Brear, 28, told the newspaper that she thoroughly enjoyed her gap year, which was largely taken in the US.
"Taking a gap year was the best idea I've ever had. It was a good growing up experience. I left home after school a brat and after my year I arrived at university more mature," she remarked.
Ms Sokopo suggests that working at ski resorts, as an au pair, on cruise ships or with non-governmental organisations in Africa could be good ideas for gap year jobs.
Earlier this month, Gapyear.com told the Times that such sabbaticals are on the up as young people decide to travel in order to avoid applying for jobs when fewer companies are offering them.
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