How are you finding your gap year?
Hi!
I have to decide whether to do a gap year after results day or go straight to uni so I would love to hear people's opinions on how a gap year was for them.
My main concerns are finding friends/people my own age since most of my home friends will be going to uni and making new friendship groups. I live in a big uni city so I don't know if that makes a difference since there's lots of people my age at uni there but since I'm not going to the uni it might make it harder to make friends.
Also I don't want to waste a year sitting at home on my phone doing nothing so I'd love to know what people did on their gap year. I'm planning on working, getting more work experience (vet med), learning Spanish and doing some travelling, learning tennis but I feel like I need more planned so I have some structure haha.
Would love to hear your opinion if you are on a gap year atm!
I have to decide whether to do a gap year after results day or go straight to uni so I would love to hear people's opinions on how a gap year was for them.
My main concerns are finding friends/people my own age since most of my home friends will be going to uni and making new friendship groups. I live in a big uni city so I don't know if that makes a difference since there's lots of people my age at uni there but since I'm not going to the uni it might make it harder to make friends.
Also I don't want to waste a year sitting at home on my phone doing nothing so I'd love to know what people did on their gap year. I'm planning on working, getting more work experience (vet med), learning Spanish and doing some travelling, learning tennis but I feel like I need more planned so I have some structure haha.
Would love to hear your opinion if you are on a gap year atm!
Reply 1
Original post
by Star160Hi!
I have to decide whether to do a gap year after results day or go straight to uni so I would love to hear people's opinions on how a gap year was for them.
My main concerns are finding friends/people my own age since most of my home friends will be going to uni and making new friendship groups. I live in a big uni city so I don't know if that makes a difference since there's lots of people my age at uni there but since I'm not going to the uni it might make it harder to make friends.
Also I don't want to waste a year sitting at home on my phone doing nothing so I'd love to know what people did on their gap year. I'm planning on working, getting more work experience (vet med), learning Spanish and doing some travelling, learning tennis but I feel like I need more planned so I have some structure haha.
Would love to hear your opinion if you are on a gap year atm!
I have to decide whether to do a gap year after results day or go straight to uni so I would love to hear people's opinions on how a gap year was for them.
My main concerns are finding friends/people my own age since most of my home friends will be going to uni and making new friendship groups. I live in a big uni city so I don't know if that makes a difference since there's lots of people my age at uni there but since I'm not going to the uni it might make it harder to make friends.
Also I don't want to waste a year sitting at home on my phone doing nothing so I'd love to know what people did on their gap year. I'm planning on working, getting more work experience (vet med), learning Spanish and doing some travelling, learning tennis but I feel like I need more planned so I have some structure haha.
Would love to hear your opinion if you are on a gap year atm!
Hi there, i totally get your worries about finding friends if you don't go to uni straight away , completely valid , a good idea that I've seen lots of people do is take a gap year after uni rather than going straight into work , which will mean you make all the friends at uni , but then can also go travelling and do loads of fun stuff afterwards, what my cousin did , was found a job for half the year to save up for travelling and then went off for the second half . this could be something to consider? your plans for a gap year already sound really good , as long as you make sure you do everything you want to then it will be a really good experience . my main advice , whether or not you decide to take a gap year is make the most of it , doing things you've always wanted to do and just do things for yourself that you will enjoy. hope this helps
Reply 2
Star160
OP
7
Original post
by arwen-mccarthy81Hi there, i totally get your worries about finding friends if you don't go to uni straight away , completely valid , a good idea that I've seen lots of people do is take a gap year after uni rather than going straight into work , which will mean you make all the friends at uni , but then can also go travelling and do loads of fun stuff afterwards, what my cousin did , was found a job for half the year to save up for travelling and then went off for the second half . this could be something to consider? your plans for a gap year already sound really good , as long as you make sure you do everything you want to then it will be a really good experience . my main advice , whether or not you decide to take a gap year is make the most of it , doing things you've always wanted to do and just do things for yourself that you will enjoy. hope this helps
Thanks for your reply and that's a really good idea!
Reply 3
Original post
by Star160Hi!
I have to decide whether to do a gap year after results day or go straight to uni so I would love to hear people's opinions on how a gap year was for them.
My main concerns are finding friends/people my own age since most of my home friends will be going to uni and making new friendship groups. I live in a big uni city so I don't know if that makes a difference since there's lots of people my age at uni there but since I'm not going to the uni it might make it harder to make friends.
Also I don't want to waste a year sitting at home on my phone doing nothing so I'd love to know what people did on their gap year. I'm planning on working, getting more work experience (vet med), learning Spanish and doing some travelling, learning tennis but I feel like I need more planned so I have some structure haha.
Would love to hear your opinion if you are on a gap year atm!
I have to decide whether to do a gap year after results day or go straight to uni so I would love to hear people's opinions on how a gap year was for them.
My main concerns are finding friends/people my own age since most of my home friends will be going to uni and making new friendship groups. I live in a big uni city so I don't know if that makes a difference since there's lots of people my age at uni there but since I'm not going to the uni it might make it harder to make friends.
Also I don't want to waste a year sitting at home on my phone doing nothing so I'd love to know what people did on their gap year. I'm planning on working, getting more work experience (vet med), learning Spanish and doing some travelling, learning tennis but I feel like I need more planned so I have some structure haha.
Would love to hear your opinion if you are on a gap year atm!
Hi there!
I ended up doing two gap years before coming to uni and it was the best decision for me so I just wanted to reply to this!
In terms of what I did on my gap years, I worked and I also did a part time college course in the subject that I thought I wanted to do at uni. I wanted to do journalism originally but I didn't do anything like this for my A Levels, so I decided to do a part time course at my local college alongside working, mostly to see if I actually liked it, but also to get experience and keep me busy and my brain active! I was so glad I did this and I was very busy but I wouldn't change it and I actually changed my mind completely about what I wanted to do at uni so it was worth it for me to know that. You could learn a new language like you say, or take up a sport, or you could see if there are any courses local to you or online that you like the sound of too!
With making friends, if you join some kind of club (maybe a sports club) you will probably meet some people here which you can be friends with. I also just enjoyed going to visit my friends in different cities and I also made friends through working which you would likely do too.
When you get to uni don't worry about making friends either - I was so worried about meeting people at uni and about being two years older than them but it literally makes no difference so don't worry about this at all as it will be completely fine!
I hope some of this helps,
Lucy -SHU student ambassador 🙂
Reply 4
Original post
by Star160Hi!
I have to decide whether to do a gap year after results day or go straight to uni so I would love to hear people's opinions on how a gap year was for them.
My main concerns are finding friends/people my own age since most of my home friends will be going to uni and making new friendship groups. I live in a big uni city so I don't know if that makes a difference since there's lots of people my age at uni there but since I'm not going to the uni it might make it harder to make friends.
Also I don't want to waste a year sitting at home on my phone doing nothing so I'd love to know what people did on their gap year. I'm planning on working, getting more work experience (vet med), learning Spanish and doing some travelling, learning tennis but I feel like I need more planned so I have some structure haha.
Would love to hear your opinion if you are on a gap year atm!
I have to decide whether to do a gap year after results day or go straight to uni so I would love to hear people's opinions on how a gap year was for them.
My main concerns are finding friends/people my own age since most of my home friends will be going to uni and making new friendship groups. I live in a big uni city so I don't know if that makes a difference since there's lots of people my age at uni there but since I'm not going to the uni it might make it harder to make friends.
Also I don't want to waste a year sitting at home on my phone doing nothing so I'd love to know what people did on their gap year. I'm planning on working, getting more work experience (vet med), learning Spanish and doing some travelling, learning tennis but I feel like I need more planned so I have some structure haha.
Would love to hear your opinion if you are on a gap year atm!
Hey! I actually took a gap year myself, and it ended up being a good decision for me.
I won't lie, at the start I did feel a bit lost especially because seeing my friends go off to university while I stayed behind. But that feeling didn't last long. Once I started working and doing some volunteering, I found a routine and kept myself busy, which made a huge difference for me.
In terms of friends, it’s definitely something you think about more than it actually becomes a problem. You still keep in touch with your university friends, and you can meet new people through work, volunteering, or even just being in a uni city like you mentioned.
Also, your plan already sounds amazing. You have more structure then I did at the beginning! Working, getting experience, learning Spanish, travelling, and even picking up tennis is more than enough to keep you busy and make the year worthwhile.
Honestly, I really enjoyed my gap year in the end. It gave me time to grow, explore, gain experience, and feel more prepared for university.
-Fatima (Kingston Rep)
(edited 3 weeks ago)
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