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Taking a gap year. So many options…. Travel Cheaper « round the world » tickets from STA travel Interail « visit 30 countries on one rail pass from € 159 Language courses Actually learn the language overseas Go back and retake some qualifications Hands-on experience/internships
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So many options….. • Travel • Cheaper « round the world » tickets from STA travel • Interail « visit 30 countries on one rail pass from €159 • Language courses • Actually learn the language overseas • Go back and retake some qualifications • Hands-on experience/internships • Gap from study in general • Time to grow as a person • Earn money • Volunteer Work • Raleigh adventures • VolunteerAbroad • TEFL – Teaching English as a foreign language
STAwww.STATravel.co.uk • World’s largest travel organisation for students and young people • Offer a huge range of great student travel deals and inspirational ideas for your gap year • They even do teacher deals!
InterRail • Explore Europe up to one month by train • Find all the information youneed for a low budget and adventureholiday • www.interrail.net • Rail pass has yourbirthday and passportnumber on it to ensure no-one elsocan use yourpass – as you have to have both to get on the train!
Learn a languagewww.realgap.co.uk • Perhaps you’d like to confuse people with foreign languages, learn to cook up a foreign feast or learn to tell an antelope from a gazelle • You can learn a language (e.g. Spanish, Portugese or Mandarin) • Language school programmes make it easy and fun to learn a language abroad • Learning to speak a bit of the local lingo of the nation you’re travelling in will not only make getting about, ordering food in a restaurant, asking for directions and so on a lot easier, you’ll also get to chat to the local people and find out the in-country secrets that are usually missed
Paid work • This canbe in the fieldthatyouwant to specialise in, or justsomegeneralexperince • http://www.realgap.co.uk/Paid-work-abroad • seasonal and temporaryworkabroad www.gapwork.com • Offers a range of excitingworkabroad, volunteerabroad and teachingoverseas programmes www.bunac.org • Living and workingeitherwithchildren or ‘behind the scenes’ as support staff on an American Summer Camp www.campamerica.co.uk • Female, 18, a year living and working in the US www.aupairamerica.co.uk
APPLYING & SELECTION PROCEDURE • 320 Alevel points or more (IB approx 34pts) • Send in an Application form before the deadline • If INVITED to INTERVIEW: • .Two stages (1) One-to-one interview with manager or Human Resource dept. (2) One to two day assessment centre with other candidates. • Head Teacher Assessment Form (download from website) https://microsite.accenture.com/UK_graduate_joiners/Where_will_I_fit_in/Internships_and_placements/Pages/Horizons.aspx • You find your own accomodation in London, they cover any accomodation outside London that you will need
Internships – the Battle for Talent!http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article416046.ece “Deloitte is offering 40 “scholar” places to school-leavers to start in September. The students will get a seven-month work placement, followed by a £1,500 bursary that can be spent on travel during the remainder of their gap year. After that the firm will give them £1,000 a year, plus four weeks’ paid work experience, during their time at university”.
[Gap Year students play with village children in Madagascar. VOLUNTEERING
VolunteerAbroad • Everget the feeling thatyou have a highercalling?....You know…thatyou have a specialpurpose on thisEarth? • Volunteeringabroadis one way to make a difference • Oftenithelps to check out information from a group like IVPA (International Volunteer Programs Association)
Reasons to volunteer abroad • See the world with a purpose • Some travellers are content partying their way around the world. You, however, are looking for a more substantial experience • Volunteering not only gives you the opportunity to give back, it gives you something to do, somewhere to go, and somewhere to stay • You’ll still have plenty of time for exploring local ruins or having a lager down at the pub. • But one word of warning, don’t set out to change the world – you’ll be disappointed to learn that the world doesn’t necessarily need changing. • The best goal is to challenge yourself everyday, test your patience, and open your mind and heart
Change yourself • By volunteering abroad you will learn so much about yourself • You will do things that you never imagined you were capable of • The biggest difference you will notice at the end of the program will not be external but will be the difference inside of yourself • In most cases residents could do your job better, faster and more efficiently • You probably won’t teach the locals how to hammer a nail, but you will share your friendship with them • Most importantly, you will be changed forever because you will have a greater understanding of another culture, you will challenge your personal limits, and you will develop friendships
Flexibilty • Unlike paid employment, volunteering provides a more flexible schedule and varying time commitments • You may choose to participate in a work camp in France for 2 weeks, volunteer with street kids in Peru for 3 months, or teach school in Nicaragua for 2 years
Build your resume • Many employers value volunteerism above all else • If you have volunteerism on your CV it shows that you are flexible, patient and committed
Career Development • In some cases you may find a volunteer gig in your field of study • A marine biology student could monitor turtles in Costa Rica, an engineering student may build houses in Israel, and an Archaeology major may dig in Morocco • A volunteer position may give you the hands-on experience you won’t get stuffing envelopes for an internship
Cultural immersion • Many travellers know where they want to go, but don’t know what to do once they get there • Volunteering abroad gives your travels a purpose and an itinerary
Affordable travel • There are few travel experiences that are cheaper than volunteering abroad • Most volunteer placement organisations charge a fee – typically covers room/board, orientation, and the programme itself • Many volunteers cover their expenses by letter writing for donations/scholarships • E.g. local/national community organisations of where your program will be • Family/friends
Is volunteeringabroad for you? • Requires flexibility, patience, those who are self-starters, and people who genuinely respect the host people and their culture • Volunteers never go to teach the people their western ways, nor are they there to save the people • Volunteers go to share their energy and time with the people, to experience their culture first hand and to grow themselves
Beforesigning up…youshouldconsider • Can you camp? Can you live without modern plumbing, hot water and electricity? • Are you open enough to accept and respect a culture no matter how different it is from your own? • Are you comfortable with yourself? • Are you hungry to learn?
Whatwill I do? • Community development – placements might be building a school, setting up water treatment facilities, cleaning the streets or planting trees • Education – teacher placement or acting as a teaching assistant in a local school or an adult education programme • Eco-Environmental work – placements might be in wildlife reserves or national parks, monitoring endangered species, or working with a reforestation project • Social Welfare – working with under-privileged children, working with a women’s co-op, or working in a hospital or orphanage
How do I get started? • Do your homework • Reasearch existing volunteer programmes • www.VolunteerAbroad.com – one of the largest directories on the internet • Along with your suntan lotion and mosquito netting be sure to pack your patience and flexibility • Have the experience of a lifetime
Raleigh Adventureswww.raleighinternational.org/ • Since 1984 their expeditions have inspired 30,000 people from all walks of life, nationalities and ages to be all they can be, helping them make a difference to communities and environments across the world • Two core expeditions • 5 and 10 weeks • Borneo • Costa Rica • Nicaragua • India
www.worldwideexperience.com • Allows you to work with animals while contributing to global conservation and community programmes • Specialising in ConservationProjects in South Africa, they now see the need for help across the globe
www.campsinternational.com • Runs award winning volunteer trips to Africa and Asia for all ages • You would spend time in the community and wildlife camps and have the opportunity to trek mountains and dive with gappers from the UK, Australia and Europe • They run all their own camps, so they know that the projects you work on will help the local community directly
TEFL • Tahnee Webber, 21 (a girl I met whilstbackpacking!) from the goldcoast, Australia – nowdoing a Bach of Arts at Griffith University • 6 month placement in China – spent 6 months travelling first • Taughtat a middle and highschool in Jinyun • 4 classes of 40 x 13 yrolds, 22 classes of 17 yrolds
“Being in a foreign country can be daunting at first: new food, culture, customs and a vastly different language to my own. It was mind-blowing!” • Whole experience of a gap year is to get out there and make the most out of all that is thrown your way • Through the best and worst times it will help you grow as a person, and help give you the resources to tackle anything in the future
“Gap years are not just a free year before going into further study. Its about travelling somewhere new and exciting and getting out and really living for the first time. whether that be via volunteering in helping the environment, being a sporting couch in summer camps, helping to harvest grapes in the great vineyards of France, or singing a Chinese song for the Christmas concert your school put on and having your students and their parents cheering you on, it will be the an experience you will never forget.” • www.lattitude.org.uk/Index_UK.aspx
