Here’s Why You Should Take A Gap Year After College

The time right after one graduates is that crucial moment – as the elders would say – that one plots the path toward a better future and decides the kind of man or woman they are going to be. I’m here to say that while that statement is partially correct, let me indulge into coming up with a few ideas for your year off. Because a year of complete freedom will in fact shape a lot of your personality, so let’s not let it fly by. This is your time to do whatever the shiznitz you feel like doing.

Here are a few things that you could try out in the year you’ve decided to drop before that rat race begins.

1. Travel. Pretty basic really.

A year of travel would inevitably give you an experience of the world, cultures and way of life around you that you might not have been aware of. And it’s not entirely surprising that many find their purpose in life through extensive travel. Head out on a cross country run, and we suggest that you do it alone.

2. Take up a job as a waiter, or in the service and hospitality industry.

The service and hospitality industry would be a grimy and amazing manner of stepping out of the comfort zone and experiencing a harder manner of living. There are perhaps few other jobs that are as under appreciated and strenuous as those in hospitality and service, and a short run through the hoops might help you get perspective.

3. Volunteer with social work. The real kind.

Head over to remote villages across the nation and help build schools, or teach at them. Couple this with a healthy habit of travelling and you’d be left with an amazing sense of satisfaction. Places like Ladakh, villages across the North East and even Down South have a number of programmes to work with. Apply yourself.

4. Pick up a new skill and master it.

You have complete freedom with this. The skill could be anything, and if it is something that you truly love but never got a chance to delve into, you could bypass the rule of 10,000 hours and truly master a craft. Be it sports, art, fitness, martial arts, social skills or anything you could possibly imagine.

5. Laze the bloody hell out. You probable deserve it.

No judgement here. If you’re one of those who got thrown into the academic grind at an early age, working thankless hours skimming through books to achieve said goal, ‘take the year off’. We mean it.

6. Strike off as many things off of the bucket list as you can.

If you don’t have one, take a little time to sit down and make one. Not quite as easy as lazing out, but you’re allowed to just sit down and think. Just think about things – your life, goals, dreams and ambitions. Create a real list of things to do and get cracking on it.

7. Read. Read a lot.

It’s fine if you never actually got around to doing it before, for lack of time. But you have time now, and actively sitting down and burying yourself into books is a promising and beautiful experience. Gobble up the A Song Of Ice And Fire series if you haven’t already, or Harry Potter, or Friedrich Nietzsche. Just do it.

8. Help out with dad’s business.

This works even if your dad doesn’t own his own business. Joining him in his daily affairs as an employee or intern could shed some light on what the man does for a daily living that you enjoy. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up liking it enough to join.

9. Move out of your house.

Maybe it’s time. The best way to step out of that dreadful comfort zone and throwing yourself into the deep end would be test your survival skills. Get a few friends and move in with them, get jobs or projects, make money, take care of yourself and a household. Achievement unlocked.

10. Take care of unfinished business.

We all have a bank of ideas somewhere, or at least a collection of projects we started but never got around finishing. Now, is the time to kill it. If you were writing, finish that book; if you were a musician, record an album; if you’re just a smoker, get around and smoke some of the best shit you can find. We’re not judging.