What being a gap year student is like

How did your mindset change during and after the gap year? 

Did you have any regrets?

Any advice for future students who are considering a gap year?

I was motivated to take a gap year from my studies in 2020 when I learned about other students like me: unable to enrol into a course of interest with the local polytechnic institutions. I pivoted from studying finance, to my area of interest, the media industry. However, my applications were unsuccessful and so I decided to spend the year fruitfully, learning more about the media industry by gaining work experience.

There’s definitely one factor that I love the most about my gap year experiences and it would be stepping out of my comfort zone and exploring my area of interest, the media industry! Throughout my gap year I, was offered numerous opportunities ranging from being a Talent for “Millennialz”, a YouTube channel named, a lead role in a short film entitled “My First Love”, working as a freelance actor under MediaCorp, and also working in an integrated communications agency as a Communications intern. 

Along the way, I discovered a passion and interest for the media industry even though learning relevant new skills really challenged me!

My gap year felt like I had stopped progressing in life, especially when I saw my peers going ahead with their lives, be it in their education, or work progression. I was demoralised particularly because of the COVID-19 pandemic -- I was still deciding what to do during this time. I felt stressed and anxious because my future was uncertain.

Throughout the year, I experienced many ups and downs. This journey was not easy but nothing worth doing comes easy! Instead of worrying about where I was in comparison to others, I worked on myself. I started with learning more about myself in areas of self-care, self-love and personal development. With respect to my newfound interest in media and content creation, I took a bold step, working as a freelance content creator in social media marketing. I secured my first client project collaboration in May 2020, and was even offered a fantastic opportunity to appear as a YouTube Talent. All these opportunities propelled me to further explore the industry by signing up for relevant online courses and networking with other like-minded people through events and platforms such as LinkedIn. In my (plentiful) free time, I also read books on self-development, and embarked on a film camera learning journey.

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My family and friends did not really support my idea of taking a gap year. They felt it was unnecessary and full of uncertainty. Since I did not manage to enrol into a local polytechnic, I was advised to consider signing on to the military as ‘the safe route’. I agreed with them that it was the safe route but I still stood firm by my decision as I believed that I would prosper and do well working in my field of interest. Most importantly, I would find joy and happiness in doing what I love. Convincing my loved ones was not easy at all. They had the traditional mindset that either working in the finance industry or signing on was the safer route, since I wouldn’t have to worry about my finances in the long run. However, I told them that although I would not be able to earn as much as a bank worker, I was going to set a time frame and strive to achieve my goals during this period.

I would recommend taking a gap year to students who’ve either completed their polytechnic/junior college education, as well as guys who have just completed their national service, and are uncertain about the major they plan to pursue in University. They are in a position to fully utilize and maximize their gap year, by taking a brave step to step out of their comfort zones and trying new things. This could be: learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu, embarking on a 100km cycling trail around Singapore, learning how to cook, or travelling to different countries to experience their culture & lifestyle.

During the initial stage of my gap year in May 2020, I was completely lost and had no direction, so I decided to take a step back and recalibrate myself. I needed to decide my next step since I could not enrol into polytechnic this year. It was around this time that I decided to make lifestyle changes, starting with my health: I developed better eating habits, exercised more, and worked on bettering myself. Over this short year, I experienced huge changes in my mindset. New Ben was more confident, whereas the old Ben would have given up because he couldn’t enrol into a school. Taking a gap year, especially amidst the pandemic, has taught me how to be adaptable and bounce back stronger after setbacks. I am still learning to apply this in every aspect of my life, I now have the fighting spirit to reach for my dreams.

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Frankly speaking, I did regret it in the initial phase of my gap year. When I decided to embark on a gap year, it was also the start of the Circuit Breaker period during which nearly all the companies in Singapore were either not hiring new staff or they had put a hold on the hiring process. I also felt like I was lagging way behind in the ‘race of life’ as compared to my peers around me and seeing them enjoying their polytechnic and university life, such as getting to know new friends and also taking part in a range of various co-curricular activities in campus But during my gap year I also spent lots of time watching and listening to motivational content and it changed my entire perspective about how I view my own journey. It’s not about how far and whether I am late or lagging behind my peers. We have our own timeline and we move at our pace. We are never too late or early. We are just on time. 

My advice would be just to embrace it and take a gap year because that is when you might be able to discover a whole new way of living. To be honest, if you feel like taking a gap year is when you are just gonna sit around and do nothing, a gap year is not the thing for you. I have learnt that time is essential and once time is gone, you will never get it back so make full use of your gap year by taking on internships, learning new skill sets that align with your passion, network with like-minded individuals who works in the same industry as well as someone who pursues the same major as what you would love to pursue in University