Spilling the Tea with Francisca Rockey - Taking a gap year
Yesterday, we got to find out all about one of the sassiest, most 'real' bloggers around - Francisca Rockey. Today, we're finding out all about her decision to take a gap year...
You’re
taking a gap year this year. What prompted that decision?
When I started my UCAS application back into
2017, taking a gap year seemed like my best
option, but seeing my friends apply for 2018
entry and being discouraged from deferring saw me applying for 2018 entry. I’ve spent most of the
year umming and ahhing about whether going to university this year was for me and by the time
results day rolled around, I had lost all excitement. No part of me wanted to go this
year anymore. I felt like a balloon full of air and on that day, I was burst. A few days before
heading off to Reading, I was sat with one of my close friends and we were having a chat about
university and her decision to take a gap year and it was then that I realised, I wanted to take a gap
year. Once I got back from Reading, I emailed all the relevant people and withdrew my application
for 2018 and the rest is history.
How
are you choosing to spend your gap year?
The typical “gap yah” is to travel for most of
the year and come back a month or a few weeks before starting uni. Your girl is from a
working-class background (this may come as a shock to some people as it’s believed that I come from a
wealthy background) and my parents do not have the money to fund that so I’m working and
saving until I can. I also want to volunteer for a few charities and organisations in and outside
of the UK, take part in NCS but as a leader and work on my blog content.
Do
you think there’s enough information out there for students who might want to take a gap year, particularly those who
might make that decision last minute?
There’s a lot of resources for people who are
taking a gap year and going travelling but there’s close to nothing for people who are taking a
gap year to work, take a break or like myself, making the decision last minute. I am going to
do a blog post about taking a gap year, how to plan, making the decision etc as I think I
could help a lot of people who would like to take one but don’t know how to go about it or think they
don’t have enough money to take one.
So what advice do you have any advice for students interested in taking a gap year?
If you’re thinking about it, DO IT. Don’t let
any of your friends, family or teachers sway your
decision. After all, it’s you who has to live
with the consequences of your decision, no one else and if you decide for someone else, you’re the
one who spends the first year in uni or the year of your gap year unhappy. You lose nothing from
taking a gap year, but you can lose something from going to uni straight away when you’re
unsure.
What
university will you be heading to in September and what will you be studying?
I have a post over on my blog about why I’m
taking a gap year and in that I mentioned that I am reapplying and altering my course. (You can read that here!) The
university that I will be heading to is yet to be confirmed as I am waiting for the Oxbridge application
date to pass before I receive my offers. I will be studying earth and environmental sciences,
geography and environmental science or environmental sciences, dependant on which uni
I decide to go to.
Do
you think your mind-set and attitude towards learning and university, and even just life in general, will be different
when you go to university next September as opposed to the mind-set and
attitude you may have had if you’d gone this September?
faced a lot of challenges that have made me
have to grow up even more so than if I’d gone to university. For example, quitting a job within
2 weeks of starting it and having to find a new job almost immediately or facing unemployment for
the first quarter of my gap year.
Part 3 of Spilling the Tea will be live tomorrow, and we'll be talking about being an environmentalist... make sure you don't miss it!
In the meantime, find Fran on Twitter at @franciscarockey and visit her blog at www.franciscarockey.co.uk
Love from,
Florence Grace
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