To leave or not to leave: Is a gap year the right choice for you?
Taking a break after finishing high school can open more opportunities of learning and experience, making you more equipped before university.
Finishing high school is a significant time in all students’ lives, however, it comes with conditions: ‘Do I leave school behind, or do I pursue higher education?’
Having faced this question herself, Genevieve Palmer decided to take a gap year to work and travel before enrolling in university in 2016. After working hard to get good grades Palmer wanted a chance to let loose. “I wanted to have fun and save money.”
Palmer is a Hamilton local who is now studying agricultural science at the University of Waikato. She did not enrol in university immediately after high school as she was determined to make the right choice. “University costs a lot of money. I didn’t want to go in blind.”
Palmer worked as an au pair in Switzerland. She chose the country to improve her French, and credits travelling overseas with making her more independent.
While abroad, Palmer made the most of the experience by visiting local cantons, flying to Sweden for a weekend, and attending Paleo, the famous Swiss music festival.
Living halfway across the world made the move from home much easier for Palmer. She believes that the distance made her far more independent, and made the move to university a lot easier.
Palmer still keeps in touch with the family she worked for and the friends she made in Switzerland.
Her advice for school leavers in the place she once was is to take the opportunity to work and travel before tertiary study if possible. “Explore the world and find yourself!”
