Make your gap year count

Gap year—that magical year-long break when you finish your secondary school or college but you don’t feel like committing right away. There’re many ways how to spend it—travelling, attending language courses, acquiring new skills, volunteering or all these things at once. You don’t have to be afraid to take a gap year but you shouldn’t treat it as holiday. How to get the most out of it?

Think about your goal

A proper gap year certainly isn’t locking yourself in a cellar of your parents’ house and playing videogames all year long. If you decide to go for it, you should have a clear goal in mind. What is it that you’d like to achieve and can’t be done if you start university or work? Is it a specific skill you’ve always wanted to acquire but never had time for it? Do you want to improve your foreign languages? Your goal has to be clear.

Think about how to achieve it

I’d like to become better at *** is too vague and isn’t going to cut it. Instead, you have to think like this: I’d like to be better at *** so I’ll sign for *** and do this, this and this to achieve my goal within a year. It’s important to take action immediately. It’s too easy to fall into slumber when you’re relaxing at home for a few weeks after your graduation.

Think about travelling

A gap year for lots of people means travelling to foreign countries. If money isn’t an issue or you plan to find a part-time job, by all means go. Still, even this option should have a goal in mind. Why do you want to travel? What will you do when you actually get there? Is visiting that specific country going to help in your future career or is it just an excuse for holiday?

One example of efficient travelling during your gap ear is visiting Japan in order to learn the language, work there part-time, get to know the culture first-hand and then returning home and deciding to study Japanese at university.

If you want to seriously study during your gap year but not yet commit to a study programme, consider signing for special one-year courses like the one CEVRO Institute offers. You can visit Prague which means travelling, take a few classes, experience university life and volunteer. You’ll get immersed in a new culture, meet other foreign and local students and learn from experts at the same time.

You can choose from disciplines such as political science, international relations, history and economic policy. The admission requirements are very friendly, you only need to write a nice motivational letter explaining why you would love to come. The tuition fee for one semester is 1 600 EUR and the deadline to apply for the fall term is 27 May so don’t miss it!