Question

Many young people choose to take a year out between finishing school and starting university in order to gain work experience or to travel. The experience of non-academic life this offers, benefits the individual when they return to education. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Model Answer

As the cost of tertiary education is increasing, it is more important than ever to maximise your time at university. Many students graduating high school elect to take a gap year when they are 18. I think that this is a sensible decision as interacting with people from different walks of life gives you a broader perspective when discussing academic subjects.

Until they leave school, many students have had little time for anything else other than education. Students who go directly to university therefore may not have a complete understanding of how the world operates in practice. For example, an undergraduate business management student might be expected to discuss labour relations in class. Without any experience of the working world, it would be difficult for them to appreciate some of the perspectives involved. A student who had been in the workforce for a year would be able to apply that experience when considering the issues.

Many other academic subjects require you to be able to appreciate two sides of a particular debate. If you have never stepped outside of your comfort zone, then you might view the world in very black and white terms. Travelling is perhaps the best way to counteract this. Experiencing a different culture first hand can cause you to question some of your beliefs and see that different points of view can be equally valid. This would prove useful when approaching academic study.

In conclusion, I believe that both work and travel can be beneficial to prospective university students as they speak to the complexity of the real world beyond the realm of education.

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