The idea of taking a sabbatical year has never been frowned upon, and even less so now that there is a crisis, that there is a lot of unemployment, that people are leaving the country to work abroad, etc, etc. Therefore, taking a gap year after studying is like a madness that many consider a very valuable waste of time that you cannot waste because there will be others your same age who will have much more preparation than you or much more work experience. But if we think about it coldly, there are many cases where taking a sabbatical after studying is not such a far-fetched idea.
Here are some examples:
- Mario has finished high school and don't know what to study, He is not clear about it because he does not feel a vocation for any profession.
- Clara has finished the degree she was studying thanks to her overtime work and after several years studying at the same time she was working, she's tired and needs a well deserved rest.
- Javier does not know what to study but also since he is a volunteer for the Red Cross he feels a tremendous desire to do something volunteering abroad. You also know that once you start the degree you decide it will be to study full time. It's now or never…
They are only 3 examples of three situations that could well occur in the reality of different people, so: Why would it not be a good idea to take a sabbatical? Then we leave you with the advantages of making this decision in certain cases.
Advantages of taking a sabbatical year
- You will gain experiences if you create such experiences: volunteer for an NGO, travel in order to help a group of people, etc. You will hardly have this type of experience if you study or work.
- You will learn to be more self-sufficient and to overcome the challenges that life is putting you. If you travel, if you create those experiences that we advised you in the previous point, life will put you in certain situations that you will have to overcome alone.
- Make new friends-contacts ('networking') that possibly in the future will help you when it comes to finding a job, meeting more people, learning about new cultures, etc.
Taking a sabbatical year is not staying still and just resting ... Taking a sabbatical is undertaking, looking for adventures to take advantage of, meeting people who open your mind and your way of thinking, and so on.