Should I take a gap year? I have no idea what I want to do with my life and moms suggested taking a gap year to work, travel, or volunteer. Is this a good idea? I think I want to live in Australia when I’m older (im from the U.S.) and maybe if I took a gap year to work there it would be useful?
Taking a gap year to figure things out isn’t a bad idea at all. However, there are a lot of freshmen/sophomores enrolled at universities that don’t know what they want, either. The great thing about college is the wide exposure you get to ideas, people, and (if you choose an out-of-area school or study abroad) places.
It’s a great idea for a lot of people. When they come back they have a similar attitude that older students have, which i that school isn’t an obligation but rather a privilege. They also tend to have a better idea of what they want to study. I suggest looking into Americorps. It’s a federal volunteer program that offers scholarship for your work. They’re looking for gap year students just like you.
There are also programs in Australia that allow foreign students to work in the country. I think one such one is Alliance Abroad although there may be others. Middlebury College has stated that gap year students tend to perform better overall than those who did not take a gap year.