University VS Gap Year

I'm bias with this subject, since I took a gap year. But if you are thinking about going to University then I'm not trying to make you take a gap year, just have a little think before hand.

Originally I was suppose to go to University of Lincoln to study Business Management in Sep 2012, however during the summer I thought the course would be completely wrong. This is when I decided to take a Gap Year, where I had to decide "my future" < dad would be proud of me for saying that!
I'm not going to lie, seeing all my friends go to University was tough. I was very emotional for about a month! Then I knew I had to snap out of it and get on with my gap year!

A few of my friends took a gap years to go travelling:



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If you want to go to Australia be prepared to spend a lot of money! Originally I went to STA Travel to possibly go travelling during Summer 2013. IT WOULD HAVE COST £5500!

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This was travelling around Australia, New Zealand with a pitstop at Dubai, if anyone was interested... I now understand why people travel round Asia, its a lot cheaper!

If you are thinking about travelling, here are a few website that I would look at:
- http://www.statravel.co.uk/
- http://www.realgap.co.uk/
- http://www.gapyear.com/
- http://www.gap360.com/


Get a Job!:
Yes, for one year I became an adult and working full time doing 12 hour shifts for 6-7 days a week at John Lewis! The people I worked with were amazing, the experience and knowledge I gained was fantastic. It helped me mature and finally decide that I really wanted to go to university

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This was honestly my Dad, when he found out I made a decision about university

Orignally I was working so much to go travelling. Then travelling was so expensive I decided I would go to Camp America, however I then got an....

Internships:
Internships are a great way of finding out about an industry you may possibly want to work in whether it is paid or unpaid. The websites I have provided also contain work opportunities abroad, which would be A-maz-ing! However I did an internship in a marketing department in Cheltenham which made me decide that I wanted to do a Marketing degree.

What I'm trying to say is Uni is a big decision, so don't rush your decision!
1) Make sure you're 100% sure about the course! You will be at uni for 3/4 years. There are assignments, its not only about partying and socialising.
2) Don't go because your friends are going! Be an individual, if you want a job that doesn't need a degree, then what's the point?
3) You grow up a lot at uni; you must cook for yourself, you must clean the kitchen (I was going to say you must clean ha!), there are deadlines, and you miss your family!
4) MONEY MONEY MONEY, the average student debt in the UK could hit £53,000