Gap year? Absolutely!

I have spent much of the past few weeks learning the in's and out's of taking on a new short term contract role and getting my online shop ready for launch. Both of which had massive learning curves, frustrations and some wins. As a result I wasn't sure what my next blog post would cover.

We attended a family member's birthday party a few weekends ago and the eldest sibling is currently finishing her final year of high school. The conversation very quickly focused on what the plan was for when she finishes school. This got me thinking about the options that I had when I finished school and I was somewhat surprised when the words that came out of my mouth were "TAKE A GAP YEAR!!"

I finished school in the year 2000, at 17 years old. (Yes you can work out how old I really am now). Bright eyed, naive and terrified of "losing" my school friends, I based my choices on where they were going to pursue their tertiary education. Rightly, or wrongly, this created the security I felt I needed.

Having grown up in a small, conservative mining town it was generally accepted that if you had the means and privilege to attend a tertiary institution, you would do so fresh out of high school.

So January 2001, off I went to start a BSC - why, only goodness knows. Given I was only 17 and did not have a driver's license my options were limited, I stayed in a res / hostel during my first year at University - I hated it. I did not particularly enjoy sharing a room or eating mass produced meals in a dining hall (spoilt much...)!

I lasted half a year doing the BSC degree, passing only the commerce subjects. Again, I still don't know why I chose this path...In the second half of they year I changed direction and converted to a standard BCom which would then in the new year change to a BCom Accounting Sciences degree. I effectively "lost" an entire year because of this change. It wasn't all doom and gloom though as I met some really great people and do have some fond memories of my time at University.

This then brings me to the "TAKE A GAP YEAR" comment. Looking back at my experience, things may have turned out differently had I taken a gap year. Had I taken the gap year, I may have had more life experience which would have helped guide my choices. I may very well not have become a CA. I may have become something entirely different, or I may have still become a CA, this I will never know.

My parent's worked long hours and went without many luxuries so I could attend a private school and subsequently a good university to secure a "better future", for this I am grateful as they and many others did not have the same privilege.

While some may view a gap year as a waste, I disagree. Nothing beats life experience. As a parent, you want to shield your child from making the same mistakes. You want to give them everything you didn't have. And while this is well intentioned, I feel we place unnecessary pressure on them to "succeed" and stunt their ability to make their own choices and be confident in those choices.

Of course this is a very biased view based on my experience. There are benefits to not taking a gap year, for sure, however if I had the option to do it all over again, a gap year would be my preferred option.

Stay well,

Lara

Walter Anderson said "Our lives improve only when we take chances - and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves."