The gap year

Spiritual philosophies advise trying to dwell in the “gap”; the space between thoughts. The theory of this is that, since each thought is a separate entity emanating from the source of all creativity and imagination, in other words your “self”, then the gap between thoughts is your silent self; “pure” consciousness. Of course, not all gaps are pure. Take, for instance, the “gap year” that many students take between high school and university. While the gap year may be many things, “pure” is probably not one of them … but in a new study researchers have found out the effects that a gap year can have.

The study involved students finishing high school in Finland and Australia. Some students took a gap year before starting university while others went straight from school to university and the researchers surveyed all of them to see what differences there may be among them.

The results showed that people who begin their tertiary study directly after secondary school are more resilient in their studies and more committed to their goals than people who take a gap year. Those who continue straight on also have a greater belief in their ability to achieve their goals. However, those who continue straight on do find studying more stressful than those who take the gap year. There was no difference in enthusiasm for studies among the two groups but those who take a gap year are slightly more likely to drop out from university than those who continue straight on.

These findings may be reflecting differences in the type of person who wants a gap year compared to the type who pushes straight on with their education. As the researchers say, however, this is a demanding time of life as people make decisions that will affect their future path. Maybe the real lesson here is that you need to spend a bit of time in the gap before you decide on whether you want a “gap” year.