THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHASE YOUR DREAMS Everyone knows that when the students finish what we know as the 2nd year of high school, it is time for them to decide about their future, about what they want to do once the summer is over. From this point, their career can be divided between two main paths, either continue their studies by being admitted into a university or taking what is known as a sabbatical year and, in this way, being able to relax a little bit from all the stress they have experienced during their last course of high school. Both of the options have their pros and cons, but, in this case, I would firmly recommend taking that gap year after finishing high school. Next, I will explain the main reasons why I think it is much better to take that year off. So, a gap year consists in taking a year off and disconnect from what you have been doing lately, in this case, to relax from all the stress that high school causes in the students. Some of these, when they finish their final exams, simply want to have some time to relax and forget about all the hustle and bustle of the last year of high school, and they take advantage of this period to do it. Another motive could be that when this end comes, most of the students do not know what to study, what to do or even they still do not know what they like; so if that is one of their problems, is better to step back and reflect on what they would really like to do and dedicate themselves in the future. They may even realize that college is not the only way to reach their goals, or that they just are not cut out for that kind of routine. Of course, taking a sabbatical year is also useful to live new experiences such as volunteering or learning about new and unknown cultures. In my case, I decided to continue studying and applying for a place at university. Now, the more I think about the choice I made, the more wrong I think I was in deciding not to take the time I needed to think about what I wanted to do. It is not that I regret having entered university, but I think that some time would have helped me to have clearer ideas since when you finish high school, you enter in a kind of spiral that leads you directly to continue your studies or in college or vocational training. That is why I strongly defend the idea of taking a year off before deciding what you want to do with your future; because it is an important decision that will mark a new course in your life and you have to be 100% sure about it. So, there are times in life that it is better to lose a year and be sure of what you want to do than to want to do everything as quickly as possible and realize that it is not what you wanted. Saúl García Corbillo.
