UCAS

My Gap Year

I have wanted to travel ever since I was a little girl, I first flew when I was about two years of age and I have never had a problem with flying neither traveling across water or traveling under ground. I've always been amazed by transport and I think being able to travel through the sky about 3000ft high is fascinating. I'm lucky to have contacts around the world who can always support me if I ever visit their country. These contacts have been built over the years through myself and my parents. I have spent most of my summer abroad, visiting people, taking photographs and generally discovering new cultures.

My father moved away a few years ago and he is now working in Azerbaijan teaching English as a foreign language at Baku Oxford School. I have been to visit him within the last year and I was kindly offered a job. The job involves teaching English language to primary students aged between eight and nine years. Accredited by both The Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan Republic and Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) the school offers their students high quality education.

Not only will I have the responsibility of teaching younger students, I have also been asked to help provide a photography dark room for the students to use. Many more students are being influenced by art and design and teachers are trying to encourage them to express themselves through this visual art. An important part of my duty as a teacher will be to organise extra curricular activities which will take place after the school day finishes. I am very much looking forward to this opportunity and I am ever so grateful that I have been kindly offered the job. It will help me gain life experience and build my own views upon the world.

Another wonderful opportunity which I have been given is to publish my photographs in the local Baku magazine. Baku is the capital city of Azerbaijan and to their disadvantage the country struggles with tourism because it is undiscovered by so many people however it isn't a bad issue that the country isn't heaving with tourist because it will become spoilt but I for one never knew anything about the country and the city until I visited and discovered more about it for myself. Throughout my discoveries I have taken photographs and gained more understanding about the lifestyle and the different cultures portrayed within the country, it allows me to write about my experiences which will help me along the way if I apply to university.

I will be contracted to this job for a school year starting from early September and finished mid June. The school days begin at 8am and finishes between 3pm and 4pm. Sometime students are encouraged to further their study by attending school during the weekend. In order for me to be able to live and work in Baku, I will need to have a working visa which will be taken care by the school costing around $1500. The local currency is Manat which is roughly equal to 1 dollar. However, the staff are paid in dollars. I will be earning an hourly rate of around $17 which is equivalent to approximately ￡11 in GBP. I will need medical and health insurance which are already taken care of and I have somewhere to live.