advantages and disadvantages to take a year off before entering university In some countries young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies.Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Transitioning from high school students to university students seems to be a big leap. Therefore, in some countries, students are encouraged to take a year off to travel or work. There are certainly advantages and setbacks come along with this approach. What can students benefit from taking a year off? There are several aspects that will bring benefits to high school graduates. First of all, after years of studying, students may want to relax before jumping into another study session. Traveling and working before going to university will help students widen their horizon and experience different lives style. Nowadays, it is common that many high school graduates are unclear what major they would like to study, as universities give numerous choices of courses. This may due to lack of information or experience in work environment. Thus, it is wise to work sometimes before committing into an unknown field. Through trials and errors, students are likely to learn what field they prefer and what field to avoid. Experiencing life outside school will also help deal with more complicated problems, consequently improve social skills. Not only will this help them to mature, but also will be useful to help them win friends and make smarter choices in school. Like a double-edged sword, there are also some downsides of not entering university directly. During the course of traveling or working. It is easy for one to lose the interest to go back to school again. If this happened on a wider scale, this situation will decrease national education level. Sequence society problem may follow, such as low income, reduced education level. Another downsides of taking a year break is that, it is possible students may forget much of previous knowledge. Due to this, students may not learn as fast as those ones go to college directly. In conclusion, any countries that may want to encourage students to take a year off before entering college, may, seriously weight the pros and cons with this approach. In the end , it is all to help students to make better choice in life, advance their studying performance and improve life experience. P.S. I believe the question didn't ask my own opinion right?