ARTICLE

Taking a gap year: a personal experience and a career accelerator?

The trend of taking a gap year out from your current job or studies has vastly grown WW/WO
since the 1990s. How come that more and more people make the leap: what jobs do they go for
and what benefits do they reap?

Waiters or cashiers in fast-food restaurants are common jobs picked for a gap year. It is a real
opportunity to gain customer-facing experience, to learn to work under pressure and of course to
save money for future projects. A young and a flexible workforce appeals to employers which T,
WW expect a high turnover in that sort of job. The experience can prove hard though, as
working conditions including a sustained pace and regular late shifts may be poor. Eventually,
the range of skills developed will certainly help you to stand out when applying for jobs in the
service industry.

Volunteering for a charity, hospital or care home is another option for those looking for a more
compassionate experience. It can be personally very rewarding as you may learn a great deal
about yourself in helping others in need. If you intend to pursue a career in healthcare, it is also a
real way of demonstrating your motivation when applying to school or university. The drawback
is on the financial side since volunteering work is by definition not paid.

If a thirst for adventure is close to your heart, you might want to consider travelling. It doesnt
have to be far, we sometimes forget the travel experience can be right on your doorstep so it fits
the bill for tight budgets. Going for an abroad option means an extra financial effort but you can
get to know a different country, meet different people, improve your language skills and also
more broadly learn how to get by in life. And most recruiters certainly appreciate candidates able
to speak a foreign language.

All options have their pro and cons, but at WW the end the best advisor is unmistakably yourself.
Ultimately, you probably wont regret taking a gap year simply because you will not only
enhance your CV but also gain maturity and many other useful life skills.

What essential topics do you wish had been included in the school curriculum when you were a
pupil?
Back in the day when I was in high school the curriculum was clear cut; it ranged from
languages to economics and mathmatics S with some sport activities in the middle. All were
supposed to prepare you for what was to come after graduation; grown up life. But did they
really? Who of you was truly ready for social interaction or handling their personal finance, not
me I can tell you! No, if I would have had WF a say in it, the subjects under discussion in the
classroom they - would have been much closer to life.

One thing I was not prepared for but which proved to be a vital part of my entire adult life was
how to handle my personal finance. Some bits and pieces were touched upon during economics
class but none of the teachers really explained the pitfalls of a bankloan WF or a credit card, how
to balance income and expenses each month and what the effect of a variable interest rate is on
your morgage S .

Another worldly subject which schools should spend more time on is social interaction. At
school you are surrounded by peers and teachers but that does not prepare you for things like
your first job application. I still have vivid memories of mine; I was totally under-dressed, way
to cocky and not nearly respectful enough to the person conducting the interview. Needless to
say I did not get the job! For this reason alone social behaviour should be much higher on the
agenda of schools P but don't forget the other social events we have to deal with over and over
again like parties, business events, etc. Who wouldn't want to be the centre of attention at a
party? If only some lessons in small talk would have WF prepared us.

A final matter, and maybe the most important one, is our health. We have all read the global
reports on overweight children, adults dying of cardiac failure, the list goes on and on. So why is
there no focus on a healthy lifestyle at school already? Not only could it save thousands of lives
but it would also save millions in healthcare annually. Just teaching kids to pay attention to their
intake of fat, sugar, salt, additives, etc. would mean a world of difference. In combination with
sports this could hugely improve the lives of future generations, and who knows, we might
actually finally be able to become 150 years old! All thanks to a new and improved curriculum.

REVIEW

Practical Magic is a Warner Bros film which was released in 1998 and was based on a book by
Alice Hoffman. This supernatural comedy-drama is the story of a long distinguished line of
female witches who are the victims of a curse as any man who dares love an Owen woman is
doomed to die.

Sandra Bullock (Sally Owen) plays a young botanist who tries desperately to live a magic-free
life only to find herself victim of the curse when her beloved husband dies. Nicole Kidman, her
sister (Gilly Owen), has her own share of suffering when her love spell backfires and her
delinquent boyfriend tries to kill her. This is actually the climax of the story when Sandra
Bullock is forced to embrace her long-denied wiccan legacy to tap into the magic she urgently
needs to save her sibling.

Even though Practical Magic has been severely criticised by Hollywood reviews, allegedly
because of its light-hearted plot, there are a couple of strong points which I like about the film
and I believe are worth mentioning: The setting, for a start. The story develops in a lovely village
which is a kind of New England and you can actually see what a wonderful job they did with the
scenography. Then, there is the soundtrack, which includes one of my favourite songs of all
times This Kiss by Faith Hill.

I would no doubt recommend Practical Magic to anyone who is fond of fantasy films like me, or
who is interested in witch stories or magic.

Vertigo, adapted from the French novel D'entre Les Morts, is, according to Hitchcock himself,
the directors most personal film; one centred around obsession and deceit. Scottie Ferguson
(Stewart) retires from his position as a private investigator after an incident which reveals his
fear of heights; vertigo. After retiring Scottie is lured into another case by an old friend, Gavin
Elster (Tom Helmore), who asks Scottie to tail his wife who he suspects of being possessed by
the spirit of a woman from the past. Elster's wife, Madeleine (Novak), is stunningly beautiful and
after tracking her movements for some time Scottie begins to fall in love with her. As the film
progresses, twists and turns in the plot reveal more and more about each character resulting in a
whirlwind thriller that is widely considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time.
Where to begin with such an iconic film and director. I've wanted to review a Hitchcock film for
a while but struggled to pick which film to start with. I eventually landed on Vertigo due to its
depth, controversy and sheer brilliance. Vertigo had an extensive production time due to
problems concerning casting (Hitch wanted to cast Vera Miles, but the role went to Novak after
Miles got pregnant.) and prolonged illness to the director. This unpredictable and unwanted start
to production on the film pushed Hitch and made Vertigo a very personal project.
When I first watched this film, which was some years ago, the first thing that struck me was the
soundtrack. The powerful and compelling music provided by Bernard Herrmann adds an extra
tone to the picture which compliments the trials and tribulations on screen perfectly; creating
another dimension that without which would not have resulted in the film that it is.

With Vertigo, Hitchcock has masterfully created a technically brilliant film that plays on a
confrontation of colours with the reds of Scottie and the greens of Madeleine forming a visual
dimension that is missing from many modern day thrillers. Directors of late don't tend to go into
the depth that the likes of Hitchcock went into which in my opinion is a real shame. If more
directors went into more depth and added elements to their film-making, I believe the thriller
genre would get back to a higher level of appreciation. In recent years I feel the genre has been
viewed simply in terms of entertainment and the art has been lost.
In terms of Hitchcock's oeuvre Vertigo is not his most entertaining film, feeling quite slow at
times, however, the film is technically brilliant with a plot that takes the viewer on a thrilling ride
that investigates the nature of human obsession and deceit. Vertigo is a classic that should be
watched by all.

Time management is one of my priorities. Sometimes I have to try hard to save time for just a
quiet evening with a good book. I dont like traditional shopping very much, for me its
generally a waste of time and a fight with vendors who try to impose something on you. Thank
goodness we have such life-hack websites as Ozon.ru and Bonprix.

Ozon used to be an Internet bookstore, but now its more of a mega mall where you can buy
almost everything. Apart from books, CDs and DVDs there are shoes, clothes, cosmetics, food
and whatnot. When I needed a new drill and a screwdriver, they delivered them to my door for
free, because I am a loyal customer. A week ago I bought a healthy snack bar in the gym, which
was quite expensive, but then I found the same kind T, WW on Ozon.ru. It was a real bargain
and I bought two boxes! Once I took a risk and bought an item of clothing - the result was
perfect. The shirt fitted, the colour suited, and I decided to take the next step.

Bonprix is the website for clothes shopping. Some might consider buying clothes online too
strange, but I can assure (/\) WM - you just need some experience. For me, the problem was to
find plain, basic clothes. The necessity to deal with vendors who are not much interested in your
needs made me sick, and I took the plunge. Now I just go to (/\) WM Bonprix website, browse
and pick. Sizes are correct most of the times WF but you can always return or exchange a piece
of clothing if something is wrong. I myself never tried WT to do so though, didnt have to WT

Both the websites provide a delivery to a PickPoint postal machine. Those machines are
everywhere, and you can collect your order when convenient. So, I would encourage everyone to
use those two websites.
 REPORT

Report on the Annual Student Games in London

Introduction

The aim of this report is to describe my experience of attending the Annual Student Games in
London, which took place in August of this year. This report will also give some
recommendations for the organisation of next years event in Lima, Per.

Accommodation, food and transport

Finding cheap accommodation in London was firmly easy. There were plenty of youth hostels and
bed and breakfasts available, which offered incredible discounts to Latin American students. And,
as breakfasts and dinners were included, I only had to worry about paying for lunch (8-10 dollars
a day).
Travelling through London was not difficult. There were special buses which could take you for
free to the venues of the sporting events.

The social programme

The event lasted a week and was packed with enthusiastic young people. Universities from all over
the world sent their "champion Olympians" to participate in track and field, football, basketball
and swimming competitions.
The highlight of the event was, of course, the closing ceremony, in which the winners were
presented with a medal and a posy by no other than the Queen herself.

Communication

The organisers of the event had the innovative idea of announcing the schedule for the games via
e-mail, as 99% of students use smart phones and iphones. However, there was a problem with the
wifi signal in some parts of the city, which made internet connectivity slow and in some cases
impossible.

Recommendations for next years games

I strongly recommend we follow in the Londons organising committee footsteps and offer
accommodation, food and transport facilities to foreign students. I also believe we can adopt their
communication-via-mobile-phone idea, but we have to make sure we will have a good wifi signal
available in all the youth hostels and b&bs.
Finally, I suggest we invite a huge celebrity or very important political figure to be present in the
closing ceremony.

Maryland Heights Crime Situation

As requested, this is a report about crime rates in Maryland Heights and young people's attitude
to the problem. 200 young people aged 18-25 were asked to share their opinion on the
current crime situation. The results of the survey are presented below together with
recommendations on how to solve existing problems.

Mugging and assault

Physical violence is the most frequent crime being committed in the area. 20% of those
questioned reported having been either assaulted or mugged. Young people complain of
certain areas to be WF particularly dangerous due to the absence of proper lighting and reliable
security. Therefore, it is advised that additional street lamps and surveillance cameras should be
installed and police patrolling the streets should be organized.

Drug dealing and gangs

Another problem that the community is facing is that of drug dealing. It is rooted most likely
in the gang activity in the town. The members of the gang choose their targets among
schoolchildren and students 10% of the latter confirmed either being offered drugs or
having seen others being offered (/\) WM To stop it, we suggest monitoring the gang more
closely and making arrests whenever drug dealing is suspected to take WF place. Besides (/\)
WM creating comfortable conditions for people to be able to report drug dealing safely and
anonymously could also help in eradicating the danger.

Conclusion

The survey showed that on the whole young people are reluctant to consider the area safe,
which means that high crime rates and their causes should be investigated further for more
sufficient details. Meanwhile, (/\) WM safety measures suggested above could be implemented
to change the situation for the better as quickly as possible. We hope that this report will
receive your serious consideration and necessary steps will be taken in the near future.

Introduction:
The purpose/aim of this report is to.
This report sets out to
The report will comment on
Below is an explanation of
The focus of this report is
This report will offer an in depth critique of
Fake survey/questionnaire:
It can be a good idea to base the report on a survey/questionnaire.
This report will present the findings of/This report is based on the findings/results of an
extensive survey carried out by

Ending Introduction:

It will go on to give recommendations regarding

Comparing and Contrasting
There is a world of difference between and
and are fundamentally similar
and bear little resemblance to each other
There is a clear distinction between and
compares favourably with
and are polar opposites
There is a yawning gap between and
There is a subtle difference between and
There is a growing disparity between rich and poor.
is strikingly different to
Expressing general opinions/info:
.is considered/thought/said to be
is highly regarded in (place)(good reputation)
There is widespread agreement that
Opinions are divided regarding
It is common knowledge that
Recent research indicates that
Interviewees who had first-hand knowledge of the situation stated
There is considerable disagreement regarding
Advantages/disadvantages:
s advantages clearly outweigh its disadvantages.

advantages
benefits/pros/strengths
disadvantages
downsides/weaknesses/drawbacks

Giving Recommendations:
-In light of the above, we believe the following
measures should be adopted
-In the short/long term, we suggest you should
consider
-My recommendations are as follows:
-In my view, in future, we should
-To improve the situation, we recommend
-It is recommended that

Concluding:
-To sum up,To conclude,
-I hope that the plan outlined/presented in this report meets with your approval
-I hope that the recommendations outlined/ presented in this report will receive your serious
consideration.
Should the recommendations outlined in this report be carried out, I have no doubt that . Will
be a resounding success.

(not only/no sooner/seldom)

An inverted conditional (Were we to)
A participle clause (Being/Having gone)
A double comparative (The more we the more)
A cleft sentence (What is most crucial is)
Linkers (Nevertheless/despite/due to/consequently)
Impressive verbs (bring about change/undergo development)
 LETTER

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have read the letter entitled 'Merging cultures-can it be stopped?', which appeared in Monday's
edition of your newspaper and I was very pleased to see that other readers were invited to give
their opinions on the subject.

Although I am an eighteen year-old student I have been all over Europe and have heard the
opinion of many teenagers concerned with WW this problem. It is obvious that American culture
has gained popularity in the past fifty years due to so many fields of activity that are being
dominated by Americans. Nevertheless, European kids in WW my generation are turning their
back on American culture and displaying a much greater enthusiasm for European culture than
their elders.

Home-grown youth culture is the unifying force of the new generation. People watch US films,
but do not consider the US or its culture the source of all inspiration. European kids listen to
music, wear French and Italian jeans and also enjoy the particularities of European culture.
When they do look beyond Europe it is to the East or the Orient. They seem to be extremely
interested in the Oriental culture. In this case it seems clear to me that there is still hope for
places with centuries-old cultural traditions. Gd

On the other hand, there are already many spots - that were once considered 'exotic' - on the
verge of becoming a cultural desert. On one of my journeys - to the Middle East - I visited the
city of Jeddah, a wonderful combination of old and new, /\ sense of history and rapid
development. Surprisingly enough, people here didn't just thought WW of the city's
modernization, they were also concerned with the preservation of the old city. On one side there
was the old town with its strange odors and sounds of the old shopping streets, and on the other
there was this whole new occidental-like city with big shopping malls. It was just amazing to see
it all in front of your eyes, like history speeded up on one side and yet at the same time, what
stayed the same was what retained. PE

Surely there can be a wide range of cultural influences, but I cannot entirely agree that cultures
are merging into one. There is still that feeling of culture shock when visiting a foreign country.
Gd