But I guess I should go back even further, and explain why I ended up applying to Lattitude anyway. A couple of years back my parents began talking about the possibility of my taking a gap year after high school and before I go off to Uni. I made sense for many reasons. I am young for my age group so to start my degree aged 17, my parents thought, was too young (I had my own reasons... what about O week?!). They made another good point that an experience such as this, to live independently, to take once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and to see some of the world will help me to grow up a bit and set me up well for when I knuckle down into study the following year. For me, a major attraction of taking a gap year was (and still is) the opportunity to travel, and Europe has consistently been high on my priority list.
But, fearful that I may not want to come back and study after a year out, my parents urged me to find something which will give my gap year structure and direction. Working with overseas relations was an option, then Mum told me about a daughter of her friend who had recently done a gap year with an organisation called Lattitude. My Mum was impressed by the volunteer placements available and the range of countries offered, but I never actively pursued this idea until year 12 came around and we all had to start figuring out our futures fast. I looked into other exchange and volunteer programmes, but decided to go with Lattitude because of the breadth and depth of placements offered, and the solid support system they had in place for their volunteers.
After applying for a volunteer position in March, I was interviewed in April by the New Zealand manager of Lattitude and a returned volunteer who had gone to Malawi, to help them to find out more about me in order to match me to a suitable placement. Going into the interview, my top three choices were the UK, Canada, and Poland in descending order. After the interview was done the interviewers came back and said that I would be be able to handle a placement more challenging than UK or Canada, countries which are English speaking and very much part of the western world. They presented me with new possibilities - Fiji, Malawi, Poland, India, all of these were discussed. I left the interview room with a head full of information and a very big decision to reconsider.
After emailing returned volunteers from these countries, and doing other research, I settled on Poland as my first choice. Being that Polish, not English, is their native language, it would be challenging enough, while still being in Europe for those all-important trips around the continent that I am so looking forward to.
But apart from the perhaps more superficial reasons, such as travel, I wanted to volunteer to truly give back to a community, and to be able to see the difference I can make there. Doing a student exchange would be just as interesting and exciting, but volunteering I believe will give me a unique insight into the people and culture of Poland as instead of using a service of theirs (i.e attending a school) I am providing them with one, by teaching their young people necessary English skills.
One of the biggest learning curves I have been met with so far is the share amount of planning that goes into a trip such as this, and the time management needed to stay on top of it as well as my school work and other commitments. On previous family holidays, it was Dad would manage all our visas, flights, accommodation, etc etc, but now, though my parents are playing a crucial part in helping me to prepare for this trip, more of the organisation, planning and responsibility is being placed in my hands. Let me give you an illustration...
Yes, so a lot more than I had been expecting. But, all this preparation is 100% worth it. There is less than a month to go now until I fly out, and I can't wait!
Love,
Adelaide
