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Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
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There were two things I definitely wanted to experience when I became a university student. First,Language study abroadI felt that learning English at an academy in Gangnam would somehow be a huge waste of money. I wanted to properly learn English at a school taught by blue-eyed foreign teachers. AndExperience abroadUntil I went to university, I had never once lived away from home. I began to want to leave home and live on my own, and to live abroad like in movies and TV shows and fully enjoy the exotic atmosphere and culture.
But before I knew it I was about to graduate, and my dreamed-of language study abroad and overseas experience had long since been out of reach in the face of the reality of finding a job. After starting work, exactly one and a half years later I couldn't stand the boredom and frustration of the job and began preparing to quit. At that time my unfulfilled dreams came back to mind. Then I made a decision.
"Now is the time."
After deciding, I thought about what I would need for language study abroad and overseas experience, and the first thing that came to mind was 'money'. I hadn't worked at the company for long and I was a new employee, so I didn't have much saved. To do a language program you'd have to pay tuition, to go abroad you'd have to buy plane tickets, and you'd need living expenses for overseas experience.How can I have the experience I want as cheaply as possible?The solution I found was 'Working Holiday'.
Since you can legally work abroad, if you find a job you'll have an income; you can learn real English from locals together with foreign friends who came from various countries to learn English; and you'll be given the opportunity to live abroad for at least one year, which is by no means a short time, trulysuper greatopportunity. Because the system applies only to those aged 18–30, it is also a benefit only people in their twenties can enjoy. So I went to Canada for a working holiday and spent my own gap year,and during that year I had the chance to feel, learn, and experience many things.
As someone who has experienced a working holiday firsthand, the working holiday'sAdvantagesI will talk about them.
1. You can gain overseas experience comparable to that of people who studied or lived abroad.
There were an unusually large number of people around me who had lived abroad. Some friends went to the United States, Canada, or New Zealand for language study to learn English; some went to Spain or China as exchange students; some traveled a lot from a young age because their father worked overseas; and some even attended middle and high school abroad. When I heard these friends' stories, I thought I would like to go abroad and live there someday. I wanted to leave familiar places and travel far away to experience something new in an unfamiliar place.
By taking a gap year using the working holiday program,a special overseas experience wherever they wantcan be had. You don't need to come from a wealthy family or have acquaintances or relatives living abroad. Anyone who wants to live abroad at least once can experience it. You can live where you want for a year and freely try the things you've wanted to do. It is no longer a dream only for the privileged or the model children. If you dream of a new life and meeting diverse people in a new place, don't hesitate to go on a working holiday. Those who have been on a working holiday will gain pride and confidence comparable to those who studied abroad.
2. It's possible to do a cheaper version with lower initial costs.
With a working holiday you can set your initial costs as you wish. A guy I know went to Australia on a working holiday with only 200,000 won. For him, the purpose was simply to earn higher hourly wages and travel freely. There are plenty of jobs that don't require fluent language skills. Of course, if you can use the local language even a little, you can get higher pay, but that's a personal choice. If you want to study the local language (for example, English), you'll need to take classes at a local language school, so you'll have to pay tuition upfront, and you may not be able to work properly while attending school, so you'll also need living expenses. When I arrived in Canada, I attended a language school for three months right away, so I needed funds for tuition and living expenses.
The purposes of a working holiday can generally be divided into three: language study, work, and travel. Among them,what you consider most importantwill determine how much you can lower your initial costs. Usually, if you prioritize work and travel, you can think that almost no initial funds are required. You can start working as soon as you arrive to cover living expenses and save money for travel, so you can live abroad and even earn travel funds. In fact, in popular working holiday countries like Australia and Canada, the minimum wage is higher than in Korea, so part-time work can cover living and travel expenses. Even if you want to learn a language, if you attend school and then start working, you can earn the costs needed for living and travel locally. Comparing the cost of spending a gap year abroad traveling with no income at all to spending a gap year abroad traveling with some steady income, the latter is obviously much cheaper. By using a working holiday, you can experience language learning and travel with little initial cost.
3. You can have a full experience over a substantial one-year period.
Most trips are short-term, so they inevitably have time constraints. Of course you can experience a brief escape, but trips often end with a sense of regret (at least that was my case). A working holiday allows you to legally stay in that country for a year. One year may feel short, but you can experience all four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—and spend national holidays like Lunar New Year or Chuseok. Just as it's said you need to spend at least four seasons with a person to really know them, to properly experience a country you need at least a year.You can fully experience the local culture and atmosphere.
A working holiday is an opportunity to have an overseas experience on a different level than travel. While I spent my gap year in Canada, I was able to spend major North American holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, learning about their meanings and traditional cultures. I also had opportunities to enjoy annual international film festivals, award ceremonies, and various festivals. You have ample time and space to become familiar with the way locals live and basic social norms (manners). This helps you develop a deep understanding of another culture that you cannot get from travel, and gives you a meaningful time to immerse yourself and live alongside them.
4. You can meet valuable people through sustained relationships.
It's hard to expect to build relationships while traveling. Most stays in unfamiliar places are brief, and travel is often done with someone else rather than alone, so you don't necessarily need anyone. A working holiday generally means staying in one place and developing a new life there. By attending school or working, you experience everyday life andYou begin to build relationships with the many people you meet in everyday life.Of course you won't live there forever, but you will at least meet people who can share your day or friends to chat with about the little things.
I felt like I found a new family in Canada while spending my gap year. I lived in the same house for almost 11 months, and because of that I was able to create many memories and experiences there. I came to rely on my host mother so much that I thought of her as a Canadian mother (she often told my roommate and me that we were an international family), and she opened her heart to me enough to share her own difficult stories. We enthusiastically played bowling together, enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner during the Christmas holidays, and lay on the sofa watching TV and talking. I also became very close friends with Natalia from Chile, who was my roommate. We comforted each other's loneliness living abroad, counseled each other through our problems, cooked meals together, and spent time together until we could communicate with just a look. Nothing deepens a relationship more than spending time together and sharing the same moments. Through the working holiday I gained valuable people I could not have met anywhere else.
5. You can learn living English actively throughout the day.
Of course the English study I had done up to then helped somewhat, but experiential education was different. Studying English meant memorizing vocabulary at an academy, learning grammar, or solving exercises. In Canada, the...everyday life became an environment for studying EnglishIt became that way. From buying groceries at the supermarket to handling business at the bank, using public transportation, ordering food at a restaurant, or going to the movies, everyday activities turn into continuous learning. There are countless opportunities to use expressions memorized from textbooks, and you can also observe how locals speak and pick up more native-sounding expressions.
Spending a gap year abroad on a working holiday for a year doesn't make you perfectly fluent, but it's enough time to become comfortable with everyday conversation. Above all, the fear of speaking with foreigners disappears and you gain confidence. When I was in Korea, even though I liked English, I somehow got shy when a foreigner spoke to me or asked for directions and I would forget what I knew or fail to speak, but now I have the nerve to ask again if I don't understand at first and can use English more comfortably.
Anyone can apply for a working holiday, but not everyone has a satisfying experience. Some people can't last a year and return in less than a month, and others end up relying on their parents back in Korea instead of experiencing working or living independently. Also, this system has...limitationsalso clearly exist.
1. The working holiday visa is valid for exactly one year.
Countries that have working holiday agreements, including Canada, generally guarantee a one-year validity period for the visa. In Australia's case, under certain conditions a second visa is issued that can extend the visa for another year. In that case you can experience a working holiday for a total of two years. But otherwise there is a limit: you can legally stay only for one year from the date of entry. You cannot work or stay longer than that. (If you do, you could become an illegal resident and may never be able to set foot in that country again.)
2. Waiting for the working holiday visa can be agonizing.
Except in cases like Australia, which accepts working holiday applicants year-round without numerical limits, countries like Canada or the UK do not make it easy to obtain a visa. They use a lottery system and issue visas to a fixed number of people each year, so you have to wait endlessly for the results. Moreover, the visa application period may appear on the immigration website at unpredictable times, so you need to keep an eye on the schedule based on last year's timetable. To make matters worse, the visa application process can change slightly each year.
3. The working holiday visa is issued only once in a lifetime to people aged 18 to 30.
Working holiday visas are issued only once in a lifetime per country to people in their twenties. That means someone who has taken part in a Canadian working holiday cannot apply for the visa again. So the chance to experience a working holiday in that country is only available once in your life.
Getting a working holiday visa is not as easy as you might think, and actually going on a working holiday—studying, working, and adapting to life there for a year—isn't easy either. Still, I hope many people in their twenties take advantage of the working holiday system to have their own gap year. International agreements already give us the opportunity to gain overseas experience, learn a language, experience a culture, and try living while working.Even without special credentials or skills, anyone can apply and take on the challenge.Working HolidayDepending on your purpose for going there, there may be additional requirements (for example, to get a good job you need to be good at English), but I think those are things you can overcome with the right mindset.
Working holiday visas are issued only once per country. Therefore, if you want to spend a gap year and experience life in several countries, you can use working holiday visas to gain long-term overseas experience and enjoy a variety of travels as you wish.
Above all, it is the best environment to discover a more upgraded version of yourself. Every day you are given tasks you must solve on your own from start to finish, and each time you practice thinking and choosing according to your own standards. Only then,you become able to assess your abilities and value, and through that process you can grow into an independent, confident individual.So before it's too late, I hope you muster the courage to give it a try.
by Editor Bora
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