Have you ever wanted to break away from the norm and delve into the unknown? Sarah Olubunmi from the University of Essex felt that she needed to take a year out of university to “find herself” and really made the most of her year out. Read more to find out what she got up to.
Taking a year out from university was one of the toughest and scariest decisions I have made to date. That said, I do not for one second regret it! Here is a little overview of my journey and why I made the decision to take a gap year.
At university I was super keen and got involved with a range of extra-curricular activities. During my first year I was part of Enactus (a social enterprise society) and represented my university at the Enactus National competition in 2014. In second year, I was President of the African Caribbean Society and also ran in my Students’ Union Sabbatical election to become President of the Students’ Union. My motivation behind running for SU president was to encourage Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) students to play an active role in student politics at university, after all it played an important role in our student experience.
Sounds like a lot, right! I am sure you are reading this thinking, “when did she have time to study?”, well that is where the problem started. By my second year, I was more concerned with Politics and making an impact in the communities around me than actually focusing on my degree (which is the reason I was at university in the first place). I had sacrificed my degree to serve a purpose which at the time, seemed more important than studying. Although I had the right intentions, my execution was poor and meant that I was putting myself in an academically damaging position. In other words, my grades were suffering. University had now become a tiresome obligation and I become so disengaged.
Sounds like a lot, right! I am sure you are reading this thinking, “when did she have time to study?”, well that is where the problem started. By my second year, I was more concerned with Politics and making an impact in the communities around me than actually focusing on my degree (which is the reason I was at university in the first place). I had sacrificed my degree to serve a purpose which at the time, seemed more important than studying. Although I had the right intentions, my execution was poor and meant that I was putting myself in an academically damaging position. In other words, my grades were suffering. University had now become a tiresome obligation and I become so disengaged.
The decision to take a year out was an opportunity to “find myself” and also reignite my love and passion for my degree. It was an opportunity to start afresh and go back to final year fully equipped and back on track! My year out has been incredible! The first 8 months I split my time pursuing three different projects.
The first was a leadership development programme called UpRising. Being an UpRiser was definitely one of the highlights of my year. I worked in a team to put together a social action campaign called “Big Sis, Lil Sis”. The aim of the campaign was to empower young girls aged 13-15. With UpRising, I was also given the opportunity to volunteer in Calais at two refugee camps. Meeting the refugees and actually being able to see first-hand what the conditions that they were living in was such a humbling experience.
Alongside UpRising, I worked as a project coordinator for a domestic violence charity called “Strength With In Me” (S.W.I.M) and also as a Brand Manager for educational equality charity “Teach First”. The role at S.W.I.M was probably the most challenging of all projects I worked on. I was thrown into the deep end and given the opportunity to travel to Malta and meet victims of domestic violence, create programmes and workshops to deliver to colleges across London and also manage all social media platforms for the charity.
Being a Brand Manager at Teach First was most versatile of all the roles I was able to be creative and innovative in my approach to recruitment and engagement of students on campus.
To end the year, I spent 6 weeks working on the EU referendum campaign and had an article published in Europe’s leading magazine for women of colour “PRIDE”. I secured this role by attending a networking event held by Elevation Networks (EN) called “New View 50”. The team at EN were so supportive of me throughout my whole year out. They provided me with CV advice, job and volunteering opportunities (panellist/chair for their Great Debate tour in universities across the country and also their Visible Women campaign).
My advice to anyone planning to take a year out is, GO FOR IT! This year has been incredible for me. Being in the real world allowed me to develop a sense of resilience and also drive that never existed in me before. I am going back to final year with a clearer understanding of what I want to do career wise, but more importantly, with a new found love for my degree.
The post My Year Out – By Sarah Olubunmi appeared first on Elevation Networks.