To worry about DD1s planned gap year?

[GraduallyGoingInsane]

DD1 has always been adamant that she would take a gap year after she finished school. DH and I are happy for this to happen, both of us took years out (and it was far more unusual in our day, believe me!) She is young for her year so we hope she'll gain a bit more independence this way too.

She has done a reasonable amount of research and planning, and has got a decent plan in shape. I'm proud she has been so proactive, but I'm concerned she hasn't filled the year.

She proposes to do a ski season which will fill December - May. She then hopes to do summer camp in America from June - September, and will start uni then.

She will come on holiday with us in July after finishing school, then get her results (fingers crossed!!) and is planning a trip to Cornwall with pals for late August/September.

This leaves September, October and November empty, and I'm worried. All her friends are planning to go straight to uni, so will disappear in September/October and I am concerned she will feel lost and lonely.

DD1 is a very sociable, active girl, always has been. Her hobbies will largely come to an end - she does associate ballet classes but it wouldn't be fair to take someone's year long spot for a couple of months, and she competes at allstar cheer/tumble, but again wouldn't be able to take a place on the team knowing she will leave. That leaves her regular ballet classes and tumbling to keep her busy.

I have asked for a plan, and she proposes to get a job. She's already got some gymnastics coaching work but that will only fill after school hours. She is contemplating doing her lifeguard exams (with the added bonus that this will make her far more employable for summer camps).

Has anyone else's DC done a gap year with nothing 'up front' and watched friends go away? How was it? Any tips?

Hahaha is this a stealth boast post

Best thing is for her to get herself a job lined up, any kind of job to bring in some money ready for when she goes away until she starts getting paid. If she's that much of a planner, I'm sure she'll be fine.

I saved for 6 months and travelled for 4. The lifeguard qualification sounds like a good idea. I'm sure she will have a great time.

She could get a job? Lots of places will be looking for Christmas temps.

The lifeguard exams are worth having. My ds qualified at 16 and has earned good money from it. However she will need to keep up training. My ds gets training at work but is not allowed to work next month if he misses one session. Also the nplq only lasts two years. If you dont have training in the last 6 months or she goes over the two years without renewing she will need to do the whole qualification again.

A jobs the best idea as she can then save for pocket money.

OP - you must be joking, right?

Perfect time for her to do some volunteering, maybe.

She will get a job.

How is she paying for her year out?

Who's financing this whimsy?

volunteering in the sector she hopes to work in might be a good idea. Might give her the edge when applying for internships etc in the summers off from uni too?

Not sure why op is getting a hard time. Camp America costs but you earn more than it costs. By ski season i suspect op means as a chalet girl, again paid work.

Gap years at 18 seem totally pointless to me. Like they're 'burned out' and can't possibly commit to more study without a break. Or that it's going 'enhance' their uni applications in any way.

Far better to crack on with the degree, get a few years work experience while saving up and then have a year out ~25ish.

Not sure why op is getting a hard time

Can't imagine...

Plus uni summer holidays are so long, there's plenty of time to do this stuff then.

She will be lucky to get work as a seasonairein a ski resort at 18. Most of the companies have a minimum age of 21.

plenty do it, the ski season is a piss-up on minimum wage but without the gappies there'd be very few holiday reps!

Christmas temping won't work if she is leaving in December. She needs a plan for those spare months.

and who is paying for all these holidays?

This doesn't sound like an excessive gap year at all. They're both expenses-paid programmes the dd will earn money from and they're not exclusively for privileged people at all. All you need is to be young with no commitments.

Can't imagine...

Jean could you explain that please? I don't think OP warrants a hard time. If she's got the money to help finance these trips, why not. What's the problem?

Not a stealth boast, not entirely sure what I would be boasting about?!

We are financing some parts obviously, she is only 17! We strongly believe in paying where it will give marketable skills.

We are paying for her to do her ski instructors qualification. She will have her first level in time for Christmas so will be expected to teach in the kindergarten. In January she will do the second half of her qualification in the quiet period and then teach February - May. Hopefully she will earn back what we put in, and then some.

Camp America is, as others have said, something which we will fund but then she will earn, again hopefully more than we put in.

We will pay for the summer holiday with us obviously, but she will pay for holiday with friends from her savings and coaching job.

I'm just worried it's all back loaded in the year, so September when friends go off to uni will seem bleak.

Volunteering is a good idea, I will suggest she looks into that. She is hoping to do languages at uni so she will need to think about what opportunities she could make the most of.

Interesting that the lifeguard qualification seems worthwhile, bruffin did your DS find work easily with it?

Sounds like a really sensible gap year. No advice/ideas about the first couple of months, although volunteering sounds good if she can't get a job for such a short time scale.

And after that she's working. So not sure why people are talking about stealth boasts at all.

I've skied with Esprit before and they had 18yos there who were having a gap year before uni. Both in the cleaning/catering roles but also working as Snow Rangers for the older kids who didn't need nannies. It looked like hard work, loads of hours but they were all having a great time.

Sorry, x-post. Ski instructing? Which country? I know of people who have tried to get their instructors certification in France and its really hard.

magi - the two I worked for only required you to be 18 and you didn't need a scooby about anything either, most couldn't boil a sodding egg when they arrived

Gradually - in the nicest possible way, she will have left school, she isn't 8 anymore, she doesn't need you to micromanage her in this way and if she does, then it's all the more important that you don't. Just let her get on with it!

Sounds like she's got a sensible plan. Use the spare upfront months to earn money to take with her, assuming that she's already paid for flights and any upfront expenses.

I personally am not a fan of gap years that involve "volunteering" in orphanages/saving endangered wildlife for 2 whole weeks then buggering off on an organised adventure experience. At a whopping great cost. But your DD sounds like she's sorted out paid work that will allow her to do what she wants to do and have some time out of education, which is no bad thing seeing as that's all that most kids do for 13 years.

What's she going to do when she gets back? Has she got a university place waiting for her? IME the return home is much more difficult than leaving in the first place as she'll have lived an independent life for 8 months and might find home life very mundane in comparison. Make sure she's got a plan to look forward to when she comes back.

are you sure she'll earn back what you pay? Do you know what these roles pay?

Most reps drink their earnings and leave with zero.

My ds has two jobs. He is a casual officer at local leisure centre. He can work as many hours as he wants as long as he keeps up training. They are limited to how long on poolside but there is plenty to do around the centre. He also does a little private job lifeguarding some old people who hire another pool for a couple hours a week.
My dn did camp america and loved it. My dcs want to do it as well but they are going to wait until after uni.