...The Story So Far (Part I)

I think it's about time that I shared the story of how I got to this point.

Since I was about 14 I've known that I'd like to take a year out between school and university.  And I knew that I'd like to spend part of that year  traveling.   As time went on and I thought about it further, I decided that volunteering might be a good idea.  I don't know what career I'd like to pursue, but know that I'll probably end up working with kids.  So I thought teaching English might be a good addition to my CV and something I'd enjoy and be capable of.

So i started to look up gap year organisations and English teaching projects.  Even though the locations of most of the projects were incredible and I'd love to visit them, I wasn't convinced.  There were a few things that didn't sit quite right with me.  For a start, the prices of these projects were ridiculous considering how short  they were.  And that was another thing, most projects were only a couple of weeks long.  And I don't think that teachers constantly coming and going and never really getting into their stride or getting to know the kids properly is a great set up, for the teachers or the pupils.  Of course, there are benefits of projects like this, but for me, the negative arguments outweighed the positive (can you see me up here on my high horse?).

I was starting to think that I should just use my gap year to travel, seeing as I have the rest of my life to volunteer.  But fate intervened at just the right time :)

A member of staff from Project Trust was visiting my college and giving a presentation about what the organisation offer.  My friend had spotted the posters and knew that I was planning a gap year, so she convinced me to go along with her (thanks Loz).

There was barely anyone at the presentation, and we were a bit late, but hey ho, we went in anyway.  Project Trust is a charitable organisation based in Scotland and they specialise in long term projects  overseas.  Most projects are 12 months long, but they also have 8 month placements.  As we were one of the last schools/colleges to be visited, we had to move fast if we wanted to get a place on one of their selection courses and have a chance of getting a place on one of their 2010-2011 projects.

I wasn't sure about the length of time, I'd been thinking about a total time of 5 months or so overseas.  And there was the small matter of raising over £4000 alongside my A levels...hmmmm.  But I thought I might as well fill in the application form online and see what happened.  And then I got a call saying that my application had been approved and I could book onto one of the last two selection courses, which were in a few weeks.  Again, I thought i might as well go for it, so I signed myself up.

And I have spent far too long on this computer, so I will continue The Story So Far tomorrow...