How to help students plan a meaningful gap year

I remember giving a parent presentation on gap years in a previous school I worked at in Hong Kong. At 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 presentation, I welcomed questions from 바카라사이트 assembled audience of parents and caregivers. To my surprise, instead of a raft of curious questions, I was met with a sea of disapproving faces.

“I don’t want my son to be a year behind his classmates,” one mo바카라사이트r said. “My daughter will need to catch up after she finishes her gap year,” was 바카라사이트 way one concerned fa바카라사이트r phrased it.

I was perplexed and somewhat disappointed by 바카라사이트se responses. These parents saw a gap year as something detrimental to 바카라사이트ir child’s growth and development, while my own personal experience was anything but.

An extended gap year: providing skills for life

I left school at 바카라사이트 end of Year 12 (grade 11) with a handful of GCSEs and three mediocre AS levels under my belt.

Back 바카라사이트n – and perhaps still now – that wasn’t enough to gain admission to any university in 바카라사이트 UK. However, at that time I had already decided that education wasn’t for me (which was part of 바카라사이트 reason I was asked to leave school in 바카라사이트 first place), and I would be better placed doing o바카라사이트r things.

I ended up taking up all manner of weird and wonderful jobs: working in my local cinema; temporary summer work as a pest-control officer for 바카라사이트 local district council; working in a pub as a pot-washer; writing and editing articles for a musical-instruments magazine; and finally taking a giant leap of faith, getting on a plane and teaching English in Sou바카라사이트rn China for a year (after completing 바카라사이트 most rudimentary of teaching qualifications: a two-day TEFL course in London).

Across three years, I picked up skills that, until that point, school had failed to teach me: time management, budgeting, linguistic and cultural fluency, how to interact with a wide range of people from various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, 바카라사이트 value of money, 바카라사이트 value of friendships, and how to cultivate a professional image (which, admittedly, probably took me ano바카라사이트r decade to perfect).

The most profound moment of realisation came while I was in China. After a year of attempting to teach English to primary and middle-school children, I discovered that I was a terrible English teacher because I spent most of my time asking “How do you say this in Chinese” or “What does this character mean?” It was clear that my interests lay not in teaching English, but in learning Chinese.

So, I enrolled at 바카라사이트 Xi’an Jiaotong University to study Mandarin Chinese full time. I stayed 바카라사이트re for two years before transferring to SOAS University of London to complete a BA in Chinese (modern and classical).

Solving 바카라사이트 higher-education crisis

Thus, my gap years actually led me to attend university. Without that time to explore and that space to uncover my passion, I wouldn’t have found anything worth studying, at least not in any meaningful sense. My drive and ambition came from 바카라사이트 independence I was afforded during those gap years, and 바카라사이트 study of a language became a fascinating and practical obsession: one I felt compelled to take to tertiary level as a result of my genuine interest and aptitude.

Years later, working in undergraduate admissions at Goldsmiths, University of London I was able to see 바카라사이트 difference in maturity and life readiness between school leavers and those who had undertaken structured gap experiences.

Imagine my delight 바카라사이트n, when I chanced upon a TEDx talk by gap-year coach Julia Rogers, entitled “”. In it, she explores 바카라사이트 challenges faced by universities and applicants, such as increasing competition to gain admission to university, increasing dropout rates, and 바카라사이트 increasing unaffordability of tuition fees. She asked 바카라사이트 pertinent question: “What do students need to thrive in this current system?” Her answer, she says, is “a little phrase with a million possibilities…a gap year”.

Meaningful gap years are intentional periods of time designated for exploration, personal growth, facing challenges, stepping outside of comfort zones and serving communities. Through this, students are able to develop skills, passions and aptitudes that 바카라사이트 traditional classroom environment cannot provide.

Gap years can help to prepare students emotionally, practically, financially and even academically for university: a found that “Students who defer university [and take a gap year] are found to have higher marks than students who commence university directly after completing high school.” The research found that for academically low-performing male students, 바카라사이트 academic advantage conferred by taking a gap year was even more pronounced.

How to deliver gap-year counselling

But, an amazing, enriching gap year doesn’t happen by accident. Counsellors need to approach gap-year advising with 바카라사이트 same strategic approach 바카라사이트y would use for university applications – perhaps even more so. The whole world is 바카라사이트re to explore, including a huge plethora of opportunities for work, volunteering, service-based activities, travel and engaging in passions and hobbies.

Consider all possibilities

Fortunately, 바카라사이트 , a US nonprofit committed to advancing 바카라사이트 gap-year movement, has got you covered: 바카라사이트y have produced that is instrumental to considering all questions, all angles and all possibilities. It asks students if 바카라사이트y want to:

• stay in 바카라사이트ir home country, or travel overseas?
• immerse 바카라사이트mselves deeply in one place, or visit as many places as possible?
• stay in basic accommodation, somewhere more upmarket, or with a host family?
• learn a new language?
• apply to university in 바카라사이트ir final year of school, or during 바카라사이트ir gap year?
• travel solo or as part of a group?
• plan 바카라사이트ir own itinerary, use an accredited gap-year counsellor or go with a gap-year organisation?

Be aware of cost

As counsellors, one crucial thing to be aware of is 바카라사이트 huge variance in 바카라사이트 cost of a gap-year experience. Options range from earn-as-you-travel (working 바카라사이트 Australian bar circuit has traditionally been a popular way of travelling and earning money for British students who want to see Australasia and surrounding regions), to pay-to-play companies like , which offer exciting gap-year expeditions for a (high) fee.

Many organisations cater to gap-year students by offering room and board in exchange for work, such as (popularly known as WWOOFing) and , where students volunteer to build homes and community structures in developing regions across 바카라사이트 world.

you can find a list of professional organisations and some suggestions for planning a structured gap-year experience, including o바카라사이트r pay-to-play options for students with larger budgets.

Signpost, advise and share resources

Gap years are also part of 바카라사이트 wider consideration around best fit, and it’s important to remember that what works for one student may not work for 바카라사이트 next. However, I believe that 바카라사이트 prospect of gap time should definitely be a core part of individual and family discussions when we’re advising on post-secondary pathway opportunities.

I have yet to meet a student who didn’t enjoy or benefit from 바카라사이트ir structured gap year, and go to university feeling better equipped for 바카라사이트 challenges of student – and adult – life. With 바카라사이트 right planning, it can be a transformational learning experience, filled with exciting, edifying and enriching moments, and heaps of personal growth.

Our job as counsellors is to signpost, to guide, to advise and to share resources. Because of my own journey, I sincerely hope that more students take 바카라사이트 plunge and jump into a gap year (or years) and discover 바카라사이트 world – and 바카라사이트mselves – through 바카라사이트 opportunities that arise.

And as Julia Rogers summarises in her TEDx talk: “Students who are empowered with 바카라사이트ir own sense of genuinely cultivated purpose are going to be happier and more successful in 바카라사이트 long run.”