Over the past four months of the summer break from uni I have come to a major revelation, and quite a depressing one at that. As recent graduates search for jobs and others already working will know, holidays and free time become a rare privilege and an absolute luxury once you have left university.
The average amount of holiday for a working person is about twenty days a year. Now, for most of us who have gone from school to university and enjoyed having almost half of the year off, this will be a bit of a shock to the system!
I know how easy it can be to fritter away our holidays milling around at home, seeing friends and completing four seasons of Breaking Bad. While this may be enjoyable at the time, before you know it, term begins again and you have very little to show for your time off.
The sheer amount of time we have off between each university term should not be taken for granted. Sooner or later, when we are hopefully employed, we will be struggling to fit in a one-week holiday abroad and will look back and kick ourselves for not making the most of our long breaks.
Since the price of university fees has increased, fewer pupils are taking a gap year before going to uni. For some this might seem like they are missing out on a real experience of a lifetime, but this doesn’t have to be the case. If travelling around the world is what you want to do, why not use the summer break to do it? With almost four months off from June after exams, this is plenty of time to explore an area you have always wanted to visit. Whilst I did take a gap year, I can vouch that four months is a more than decent amount of time to go travelling. I managed to fit in two continents in four months and saw everything I wanted to, and more.
For others more concerned about their future after university, the holidays is the perfect time to give this some thought. Many people choose to apply for internships or work experience during the holidays as this allows them enough time to really get the feel for a company or workspace that they may want to pursue at a later date. It is a great time to explore. I know friends who have spent a few weeks working in an area they thought they were interested in but turned out hating. This is all positive work, however. This is the perfect time for those of us that are undecided, to explore and narrow down our options for the future. For those that are more certain of the path they want to take, the holidays provide the time for them to gain experience and build up their CVs for when they come out of university.
So think about what you might want to explore and try out during your long holidays. Planning and thinking ahead is essential if you want to secure some work experience or book affordable flights. Otherwise, you may find that that trip to South America or Thailand that you have always dreamed of taking might have to wait until you’re 65 and retired!