Editing Gap year (section)

==Description==
A gap year is described as “a semester or year of experiential learning, typically taken after high school, and prior to career or post-secondary education, in order to deepen one’s practical, professional, and personal awareness.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gapyearassociation.org/what-is-a-gap-year-2/|title=What is a gap year?|access-date=2022-01-24|website=www.gapyearassociation.org|archive-date=24 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124235541/https://www.gapyearassociation.org/what-is-a-gap-year-2/|url-status=dead}}</ref>  During this time, students engage in various educational, work-related, and developmental activities <ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-08-09|title=What's a Gap Year Before College (& Should You Take One)? {{!}} Her Campus|url=http://www.hercampus.com/high-school/preparing-college/whats-gap-year-college-should-you-take-one|access-date=2022-01-24|archive-date=9 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809124400/http://www.hercampus.com/high-school/preparing-college/whats-gap-year-college-should-you-take-one|url-status=deviated}}</ref> such as [[internship]]s, work experience, travel, volunteering, participation in cultural exchanges, studying art or learning a trade, etc.  Though gap years come in many different formats – from structured programs to personal exploration – the purpose of taking a gap year is usually founded on the common needs of young people to gain deeper self-understanding, expand their worldview, and recharge between traditional academic experiences. On the other hand, rejected college or employment applications have also caused high school students to pursue a gap year.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Holmlund |first1=B. |last2=Liu |first2=Q. |last3=Nordstrom Skans |first3=O. |date=2007 |title=Mind the gap? Estimating the effects of postponing higher education |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpn010 |journal=Oxford Economic Papers |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=683–710 |doi=10.1093/oep/gpn010 |issn=0030-7653|hdl=10419/78688 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Taking a gap year can have significant benefits to one's academic path as well as a career trajectory. This time taken off can help college students from “burning out” or turning to indulgent behaviors as a result of unhealthy stress'''. '''During this year, students can explore different interests while gaining experience and maturity before beginning college. It gives young people the time to make an informed choice about the path they wish to pursue, as well as the experience of real-world situations to match academic theories.  Gap years and similar sabbatical experiences are popular around the world (as can be evidenced below per country), but are just beginning to become more popular in the United States.  Studies conducted by American colleges are showing that the average GPA for students who have taken a gap year is significantly higher than the average GPA for students who have not.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Why Harvard 'encourages' students to take a gap year. Just like Malia Obama is doing.|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/05/01/why-harvard-encourages-students-to-take-a-gap-year-just-like-malia-obama-is-doing/|access-date=2022-01-24|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Amidst much evidence supporting the positive outcomes of taking a gap year, the room for improvement remains – as the gap year experience is largely geared primarily toward students with “means.” Some still argue an opposing view, as parents are among the concerned that taking a year off from school has the potential to break a student's focus and derail their path rather than recharge it.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gap year advice for parents: Are they a good thing?|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hubs/gapyear/7956017/Gap-year-advice-for-parents-Are-they-a-good-thing.html|access-date=2022-01-24|website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=20 August 2010 }}</ref>  Ultimately though, the idea of a gap year is growing as it helps students gain the independence necessary for a smoother transition into adulthood.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=King|first=Andrew|date=May 2011|title=Minding the gap? Young people's accounts of taking a Gap Year as a form of identity work in higher education|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13676261.2010.522563|journal=Journal of Youth Studies|language=en|volume=14|issue=3|pages=341–357|doi=10.1080/13676261.2010.522563|s2cid=56356743 |issn=1367-6261}}</ref>