You’re a student; you have just graduated from high school or university and don’t have a clue about want you want to do next. The job market is pretty much impossible to get into, the thought of being at home for the next month or twenty doesn’t excite you in the least and you don’t want to or can’t afford to stay in education any longer.

Now is probably the best time in your life to take a gap year!

A Gap Year is a significant amount of time (not necessarily twelve months) in which students go and explore the world around them, discover their talents and interests and gain some life experience before settling down and focusing on a goal.

Here are just some of the benefits students can gain from taking a gap year:

  • It’s a chance to make you stand out from the crowd! Think how many high achieving students’ employers and admissions staff see on a daily basis: a gap year is a great way to make you seem interesting and experienced.
  • A Gap Year gives you the opportunity to trial out a career you’re interested in in a real life setting. There’s no point going straight into a career or course and realising months into it that it isn’t the right thing for you.
  • A Gap Year gives you the chance to travel and see the world around you. Take a Gap Year picking grapes in a vineyard, travel the countryside learning a new language, or volunteer with a charity working with war-torn children in Africa. There are so many organisations you can talk to that can recommend places to suit you and your interests.

So where are the popular places to go for students?

A common choice is an Australian Gap Year. Australia has a vibrant youth culture, hot weather and is probably one of the most beautiful and diverse places in the world. Australia also encourages travelling students with work experience opportunities. In your Australian Gap Year you could end up shearing sheep on a farm in the Outback or waiting tables at a bustling Sydney restaurant.

However, not all people are interested in the same thing and maybe you’re interested in a place a bit more unique. You could travel down to South America and take an Argentinean Gap Year, learning Spanish and teaching English to locals. A Gap Year to Asia is something different, a chance to experience a totally new culture and way of life and learn that Chinese food is a lot different than it is in your local takeaway! Or maybe you would like the chance to give something back by volunteering in a developing country where you can really make a difference to someone’s quality of life.

The most important thing about a Gap Year is learning about yourself and what you want to be. As more universities offer the chance to defer courses and the job market becomes more competitive; it can be a relief to take a break, travel and experience everything you want to first hand. Meet new people and make new friends and maybe even come across amazing opportunities that you wouldn’t have had anywhere else.

Crispin Jones is a writer for Sport Lived who specialise in Australian gap year travel and Argentinean gap years for students.