How to make the most of your gap year
Sacha van Niekerk offers a few ideas for making the most of your gap year
AFTER 12 years of structured schooling with the monotonous routine of extracurriculars, tests and exams, the chance to have a year off to do as you please is tempting. If you’re considering taking a gap year after matric, ensure you have plans in motion to avoid a year full of possibility going to waste.
Fruit Picking
Spend days baking under the sun, wading through underbrush, soaking up nature’s beauty.
Fruit picking and sorting, vine pruning, weeding and tree planting are part of what it takes to earn a Working Holiday Visa in Australia.
The visa enables holders to make an initial entry into Australia where they are permitted to do work of a casual nature as the main purpose of the visa is holiday and travel. Work that exceeds six months with any one employer is not permitted.
If you’re up for the challenge, fruit pickers can travel, experience farm life (often in rural Australia), make new friends and a range of diverse cultures, all while earning money.
Be an au pair
There are a myriad reasons to au pair. For starters, you will be living in a foreign country boasting an array of new and exciting experiences and cities and to explore. You’ll be immersed in a new culture and way of living from sharing everyday life with a local family.
There are opportunities to study in your spare time, some programmes require au pairs to complete at least six credits at an accredited college.
As an au pair you will be fulfilling a job in the realm of child care and education where you will learn many professional skills and gain experience.
Learn a language
Possessing the ability to communicate in multiple languages is becoming increasingly valuable.
In the workplace, communicating directly with clients in their home language significantly contributes towards building the foundation for long-lasting business relationships.
Multi-lingual applicants are also automatically ahead of their peers when in the running for a promotion.
Teach your skill
Whether you’re this century’s Beethoven on the piano, a skateboarding pro or a whiz at maths, tutoring a skill you’re passionate about can be exceptionally rewarding.
Join a tutoring business or teach kids in your community, both offer the opportunity to earn money while learning valuable skills.
Blogging
As intimidating, yet kind of exhilarating, as it may seem to have a year practically free of responsibility, know that there are thousands of people in the exact same position as you.
Whether your gap year was planned or not, use it to explore your interests and learn more about yourself.
By documenting this journey and sharing it with the rest of the world you can help others in your position while gaining insight into your strengths and passions.
From fashion to food, there’s plenty of topics to explore.
And who knows, you may even find you have a knack for expressing your thoughts through words?
Volunteering
This is the ideal way to keep busy while boosting your CV.
You may not receive a salary, but the rewards lie in having the opportunity to give back to your community.
Pick an organisation that’s related to a career you’re interested in; you’ll be able to learn new and necessary skills while gaining exposure to a working world similar to the one you wish to enter. For instance, if you want to be a lawyer, volunteer at a legal aid organisation. If you love the sea, working with people and travelling, a job on a cruise ship may be what you’re looking for. Cruise-related jobs cover a broad variety of careers ranging from the entertainment team to photography and housekeeping.
Most cruise companies have websites where you can search for and apply for jobs, be wary of scams and make sure the website you’re using is credible.
Intern/Job shadow
Ultimately gap years provide people with the time and perspective they need to figure out where they’re headed in life.
Life moves at a dizzying pace and teenagers – who are currently trying to plan out their entire career paths in high school – often feel they are in over their heads.
Through internships and job shadowing, matrics can get a taste for the working world and understand what will one day be expected from them.
Internships and shadowing also offer the opportunity to build one’s network through connecting with people in various fields.
No matter what you’re interested in, there’s an internship out there for you. Companies rely on interns to support them with their missions and are always happy to have keen members on board.