Some might say taking a gap year is a waste of time. Growing up in Singapore, most people feel an incessant need to stay in the race, making the idea of taking an entire year off seem alien.

Taking the road less travelled

So, imagine taking a gap year, then dropping out of a private university and waiting for another year to re-apply for a spot in a local university —that's a whole two years, almost as long as National Service. Well, that's what I did, and here’s my story.

My GCE 'A' level results just scraped by the admission criteria for local universities, which left me with limited course options. That’s when I decided to take a gap year as I didn’t want to shell out S$30,000 on a degree over four years only to end up not enjoying the process. One year zoomed by, and it was time for me to apply for university again. My second application to my desired course at a local university failed, and there was no good reason to take another gap year, so I enrolled in a private university. Despite my efforts, I didn’t enjoy school and knew this wasn’t what I wanted to do, so I dropped out after a year.

Life’s lessons are not found in textbooks

During my two-year break, I took up various part-time jobs in different industries, did internships, volunteered, and went on solo backpacking trips. The exposure taught me so much about life – things I could never have learned from textbooks. Here are my top three lessons:

1. Failing is scary, but never trying is scarier.

After being rejected twice by a local university, I never thought I would try again, but something in me said it was worth a shot. I’m not someone who handles “what ifs” well, so I decided to go for it again. After all, I’d put my all into building my portfolio during my two-year break, and giving up then would’ve meant not giving myself another chance. Some say third time’s the charm, and I got a spot in my desired course. That said, it didn’t come without hard work.

2. Be intentional in what you do.

Very often, taking a gap year means justifying your “break” from school, especially if your goal is to build your portfolio for your next university application. Taking up internships related to your desired field is essential for building your portfolio. Though it doesn’t guarantee you a spot, it adds some brownie points to your application.

While part-time jobs typically don’t have a direct correlation with your university application outcome, they teach you the soft skills needed when working with people from different backgrounds, which is useful for future internships and jobs. Hence, being intentional in what you do is important. Taking a gap year can be fun, but life is not all rainbows and butterflies. Every decision should be carefully considered, taking into account the trade-offs and opportunity cost, so you have clarity on the journey you’re about to take.

3. Saving is important, but not enough.

From a young age, I understood the importance of saving, but funnily, no one ever told me why. I was just told, “You need to save.” After earning my first pay check at 16, I realised what those words really meant. Inflation erodes my buying power and it means that I have to pay more for things over time, so saving alone is not enough — I need to grow my money to mitigate the effects of inflation.

One of the ways to grow wealth is investing. I’m not an investment guru, and if anything, I’m quite the clueless beginner. If you’re like me and don’t understand the stock market or index funds, I’d recommend starting with lower risk  investments like insurance saving plans that offer returns  such as the Singlife Account. Singlife Account gives you up to 3% per annum* returns while providing you an  insurance coverage in the event of death or terminal illnesses, best of all there’s no lock-in period or fees and you have the flexibility to do top-ups and withdrawals anytime. Though 3% p.a. returns might seem small, but many a little makes a mickle. The amount of money you’ve put in now will compound and amount in time to come.

Life’s a marathon, not a sprint

Now that I’m approaching my thirties, I look back and am glad I got to experience the ups and downs of life that shaped me as a person and led me to where I am in life today.  I hate to use this phrase, but YOLO (You Only Live Once), and living with “what ifs” is scarier than knowing you’ve tried. As my dad (or rather Confucius) always says, it doesn’t matter how long you take to get where you need to be, as long as you don’t stop.

So, take my three lessons with a pinch of salt and embark on whatever journey you choose in life fearlessly.

^Notes

^{*The Singlife Account’s base return is 3% p.a. on the first S$10,000 and 1% p.a. on amounts above S$10,000, up to S$100,000. There are no returns for amounts above S$100,000. The applicable returns will be periodically declared by us. Any revision in the returns will take immediate effect.}