Taking a gap year is a hard decision to make, considering that most of your family members are trying to eager you into the university life before you can even breathe. And like most young adults, you feel torn as to what decision you should make. If you decide to take the chance , then use your time wisely, don’t spend an entire year lounging around the house (even though that sounds wonderful).
Read. Read as much as possible, creating the habit of reading is one of the most liberating things you could gift yourself. Being able to wander through the books you’re reading, and to be entwined in the storyline, is a mind expanding experience that helps set your mind free. I also happen to believe that improves your mental and psychological growth.
Travelling is a great way to spend your gap year. It opens up doors to new experiences. Engaging with different people, different foods, places, history and culture can be inspiring for you. It’s all about learning, and travelling which gives you experience to learn as much as you possibly can.

If you’re ready to just jump right in to work and all of that, then gaining some work experience is a really good idea. By doing this you are motivating yourself, whether your goal is to make money, or just to make time pass by quicker. It’s maybe the best way to become independent, gain confidence and give yourself the ability to interact with your bosses, colleagues and people in general. It does wonders to your confidence.
If you don’t want to let your studies take a back seat for a whole year, you could always take an online course by learning a different language. Living in a time where we are surrounded by different cultures and ethnicities, everything we pretty much do has got to do with differentiality. Learning a new language would not only be beneficial for you to expand your knowledge on the art of language, but it can also help greatly by becoming a huge asset in your future career.
Knowing what you want to do for the rest of your life is a baffling thing, when you can’t even decide what to eat for lunch. Take some time out to discover who you are as a person. Find out what you like and what you don’t. Explore your options. Figure out what your interests are and what you’re good at and lean towards that. Going through any experiences helps you understand what you want and don’t want from your life.
And lastly, just try and have fun in anything that you do, whatever that may be. There’s no point in doing something if it brings you anything less than happiness and good memories. Use this time to rejuvenate yourself, to gain something and to just experience new things. And remember one thing - education and knowledge is not something you get by going to university, it’s something you work on for your entire life. The gap year will come and pass, but what you’ve learned from it is what remains with you for the rest of your life. Use it wisely.