What to do after year 12?

[Leila.feith]

If you're questioning why to do after year 12, take a gap year!
It'll help you find yourself if you travel I think.

[Will Sparks]

I'm going to be doing Science at Melbourne Uni.

And I can't wait to turn 18 (end of December ) and get my P's, go out with mates and just simply have freedom.

I also can't wait to be able to play online games again lmao, probably get a job over summer to be able to buy a laptop for university and games.

[Lolly]

I was pretty sure about taking a gap year  BUT THEN THE MONASH PEOPLE CAME TO OUR SCHOOL  ARGH WHAT IS LIFE HOW DO I MAKE DECISIONS. :p

[Yacoubb]

I know that I still have about 1.5 years to go, I'm going to just go into hibernation for about 2 weeks of just sleeping. I then would like to travel, enjoy life + just catch up on everything I missed out on practically!

[charmanderp]

Arts is fantastic. So much freedom to study what you love, and the workload is more than manageable (quite minimal, really, if you keep on top of it) so there's plenty of time to explore academic/personal interest/'professional' stuff outside of university. I honestly spend about twice the time on extra-curricular pursuits than my course so it doesn't really feel like full-time study, but you're still getting a professional education and setting yourself up with some pretty invaluable skills. It's three years to find yourself as well, which is crucial if like me there are more 'career' pathways you want to go down than anyone can fathom and you'd dare to admit.

Arts isn't for everyone but I know people with ATARs from 99.95 to 80 studying it and the common theme between them is passion and interest in the subject potential, whatever that means to them (: So for me it's being able to continue on my lit/creative writing stuff as well as dabble in economics and politics and music and philosophy and what not in an academic and quite fulfilling environment.

Also keep in mind that everything that's said about Arts degrees not being able to get you a job is absolute total garbage, no matter who's saying it. The median wage for first year UoM Arts grads is $50k and there are jobs which do pay considerably higher, depending on your major. With post-graduate study of whatever nature this figure increases without any ceiling, really. That being said I do think you have to have that inspiration and empowerment to be studying Arts for other reasons, such as a desire to be learning to think critically and analytically and develop your writing and communication skills and learning about the world in a historical and social context and what not. Arts is really about complementing the type of learner that you already are.

I quite like the idea of a gap year but figured I'd put my academic passions to use coming straight out of high school. So personally it's something on the cards between my undergrad degree and any personal post-graduate study. And I'll be better placed to use my gap year at that stage, too.

/rant

[alondouek]

I recommend taking a gap year - specifically because that's what I didn't do, and in some ways I regret it. So (doing what I do best), here are a couple of lists.

Pros of taking a gap year:

• You have the option of travelling and seeing places of the world you've always wanted to see
• You can stay local, get a job and earn money - this stands you in good stead if you intend to have some independence from parents in early years of uni, if a scholarship isn't apparent
• Most importantly - you get to destress after VCE. I've effectively been 'wired' since October last year, and in some ways it's taken its toll. Example: Mid-last week, I woke up one morning, realised I had 4 assignments due over the coming 4 days (and then only had 2 days to do them poorly-timed religious holiday grumble grumble... let's just say that the exclamations of 'Fuck it." were loud and frequent, and the stress levels approached the roof. (But I made it, guys )

Cons of taking a gap year:

• It'll probably be a bit jarring to come back to academia after an extended period of time, where your mind has (hopefully) been focused on less taxing things than studies. The first 3 or so weeks of semester would probably be pretty tough (it was for me, and I didn't even take a break coz I'm dumb and physics is hard).
• If you travel, your wallet will likely take a beating, and you'll be like every other uni student - that is to say, dirt poor. Still a pretty crap situation to be in, especially when textbooks can cost >$200 and there aren't any copies in the library for some reason. As above, independence (which really is a massive boon during uni in many ways) is costly, so if you've depleted your funds during the gap year - a likely occurrence - then you may be in a slightly unpleasant situation come the start of uni.

But, I'd say that a gap year is probably worth it. It's good to get some life experience in before hitting the books once more.

Apologies for the rambling post .

[brenden]

Jesus Charmanderp. Never thought I'd hear Arts and minimal in the same sentence when it was being talked about seriously. Teach me your ways.
I do agree, Arts is extremely rewarding.

[charmanderp]

Never thought I'd hear Arts and minimal in the same sentence when it was being talked about seriously.

It's amazing what thinking rationally and not being a judgmental and uninformed asshat can do for you (not referring to you at all Brenden, just the cosmos of judgmental and uninformed asshats in general).



But yeah it's rewarding in ways I haven't seen my friends studying other degrees to find. I love it.

[Fyrefly]

I agree with all the positive things everyone has said about gap years.
If you've got a PRODUCTIVE gap year planned out, then go for it (read: don't just sit on your ass and be a Centrelink bum).
Stuff like work, travel, etc are all life-enriching experiences that you should definitely take the time to do.

Personally, I took six months off before I started my degree, and I'm going to take a post-grad gap year next year.

[brenden]

That sounds really cool, Fyrefly! Would you care to elaborate? (I mean, are you taking a year off before doing a PhD or some further study, or before joining the work force?)

[Fyrefly]

That sounds really cool, Fyrefly! Would you care to elaborate? (I mean, are you taking a year off before doing a PhD or some further study, or before joining the work force?)

The gap "semester" I did before the start of my degree was the product of a start-of-life crisis. I realised I needed a bit of real-world experience, and that I wasn't ready to jump straight back into study after 13 years of education. Didn't do anything spectacular, but I worked and saved a nice chunk of money. The most important thing that came out of it was that I remembered my love of learning (something that Year 12 had destroyed in me) and I realised how much I really did want to go to uni and study commerce and such. Don't regret my decision for a second and it definitely helped me become a more rounded and flexible person with a fuller perspective on life.

My post-grad gap year will be between me finishing university and commencing full-time employment. I performed well at an internship I did last summer and they were really happy with me. They were also really receptive when I brought up the idea of a gap year. I'll be getting a working holiday visa and going back to Japan for about six months. The rest of the year will probably be either a eurotour or an asiatour, depending on how much money I've saved and how much the good ol' AUD is worth.

[brenden]

Sounds pretty fucking brilliant to me.

[slothpomba]

Keep in mind you can take a gap year once you're *in* uni too. You can take a year or half a year off, they really don't mind all that much (long as you tie up all the loose ends). Lots of people do it. There's much less pressure in uni to keep up with everyone and graduate at the same time. People go on exchange, people have different degrees of different lengths, some people fail or drop subjects, some people take time off. There is much less pressure to keep up with the pack than a lot of kids in VCE perceive (i know i thought this way too).