How should I spend my time after finishing high-school? Should I apply for college straight away? Or should I rather take a break from the education system to do something entirely different – a gap year?
A lot of students are asking themselves these questions, and you will be surprised how many don’t know – even if they are already going to graduate next year – what exactly they want to do after school. In order to offer you some help with your decision, here are the sometimes vague and sometimes more concrete plans of thirteen international students here in Beijing that might inspire you:
After graduating, I want to stay here in China for one year and learn Chinese. Then I will probably go to university.
(Alicia Schwarz, 17)
My plan is to visit an acting school in New York for one year. Or maybe, I will go to Spain and learn Spanish.
(Ayisha Wangsun, 17)
I plan on studying Arts or Design directly after my graduation. Therefore, I will probably go to Germany or somewhere else in Europe.
(Chantal Adam, 17)
My parents want me to travel around here in China for one year, so that I can improve my Chinese skills. But after that, I have no idea what I want to do yet.
(Justus Boewer, 17)
For half a year, I will participate in a cultural exchange and help building a village in Africa. After that, for the second half of the year, I want to work as a lifeguard in Germany. If everything works out like that, I will be a happy man.
(Lorenz Hoffmann, 17)
I already know what I will do after graduating: I will study Chinese at a Beijing University.
(Luna Jursch, 19)
I will probably travel around in Europe or the USA. While I am doing that, I will have enough time to think about where and what I want to study afterwards.
(Maxi Ulrich, 16)
I’m not exactly sure what to do directly after graduating, but I want to study Physics.
(Paul Hilgers, 16)
After the Covid pandemic, I really want to travel around. If possible, I would like to combine that with studying Chinese. I see university quite relaxed, because I already roughly know which subjects I want to study and finding that out is the hardest part, in my opinion.
(Ben Aurel Gstattenbauer, 17)
I have already applied for three university’s courses in International Business, but only because my older brother did the same. Work and Travel is also an opportunity that I have considered if I don’t get accepted by these universities.
(Lena Jahn, 16)
After graduation, I will travel around Europe or the United States. I am planning to study Politics in Paris at SciencesPo subsequently and hoping to get a degree in International Governance and Politics, because later, I want to attain a job in the German Federal Foreign Office.
(Gianluca Kropf, 17)
I will go to college straight away after school or do something called “prépa” in France. The “prépa” – two years before college – enables you to get access to very good universities in France.
(Emma Sortais, 15)
I plan on taking a gap year before going to college. I will play volleyball for the entire gap year.
(Dino Liu, 16)
Out of the twenty-five people asked about their plans after finishing high-school for this article, fourteen are already relatively sure about what to do after graduating, while eleven of them still don’t have a concrete plan and only tend in a certain direction or are torn over two or more options.
But only nine of the twenty-five students want to go to college directly after graduation. The other sixteen all prefer a gap year instead – some of them simply want to travel around, others want to learn languages or engage in social projects.
So, as you see, there are tons of possibilities to spend your time after finishing high-school. The difficulty is, of course, to choose the right option that suits you best. But oftentimes, the decision comes naturally: Since twelve or thirteen years of schooling are quite a lot, many students are ready to take a break before diving into the world of education again, but if school is something you enjoy, then continuing to study at the university directly after school might be the right thing for you.
Images: Unsplash
