Getting The Most From Your Gap Year
A gap year can be a great time between education and the professional life, but are you getting the best benefits from your year off? This article will discuss the best personal development activities and recommendations for people using a gap year. I will also provide some tips on managing time between school and work, as well as creating a professional network to help boost your career prospects.
The 3 objectives for this blog post are: 1) personal development 2) tips for managing work/school 3) professional network. To help you achieve these objectives, I will use the following personal development examples:
Example 1: Increase self-confidence. One of the best ways of increasing self-confidence is to take on a challenge. If you want to become more confident with your body, go on a course that teaches calisthenics or learn some gymnastics. If you want more confidence in your career or as a student, look at seminars and training courses that are related to your career or study discipline. These can be done online or offline as courses. For example, if you are in the medical profession, a course called ‘confident communication for healthcare professionals’ could benefit your career by helping you to be a better communicator.
Example 2: Improve your fitness or try out new activities: a new sport or recreation activity is always an option. It might take away from what you want to achieve on your gap year but I would recommend going for it. This is because trying out new things will help you to be more adventurous and open your mind to new experiences. It does not matter if you have never done something before as there is always a first time. My recommendation would be to try out something different that you did not think of as an activity (e.g. rock climbing, kite flying, piano lessons, singing lessons).
Example 3: Create a new hobby or interest that can take up your spare time. You do not have to be an expert at something, you could just start with googling something you have always wanted to try. For example if you enjoy computers, what about learning coding or starting a blog? If you enjoy nature, then what about hiking or camping? I know a friend who had a love for classical music and would set up regular classical piano sessions for others to join in.
Example 4: Take part in some charity work. You might think that you are not good enough to help others, but it is more important to be kind than perfect. This is because how you feel about someone can have an effect on their life. Being nice will make you feel better and more confident about yourself.
Example 5: Learn a foreign language. If you want to improve your career prospects, then learning a new language will be beneficial. For example, it is important to learn business languages like French and German. If you want to work in an international company, you will need some knowledge of a language that has not been mentioned above.
Example 6: Try volunteering at a local charity or community service. This could be anything from helping the elderly by cooking their meals, cleaning their homes or just listening to them when they have something on their mind. You could also volunteer at your local school in an area that you are interested in such as music or art lessons for the students.