Gap Year Accounts

Fraser Barrett, 2007

In 2006 Fraser applied for, and was fortunate enough to win, a Buckley-Evans scholarship to help finance his gap year.   This year he is volunteering with Project Trust,an educational charity based on the Isle of Coll.  He is now working at Gelukwaarts Farm School in the Southeastern Free State of South Africa.

I'll just give you a quick idea of what I've been doing.
 
At school I've been teaching a bit of maths and computing, but most of my time is spent 'teaching' the nursery children, who are between 3 and 6.  This has been good so fr, although as the young ones don't speak English it can be a challenge at times.  However, I'm learning Sesotho which is making communication a little easier.  I'm also getting used to being thought of as a teacher, which is a bit scary!  All the kids at school have been very kind to me so far, which has been a relief, and I feel as if I'm fitting in really well.  After school I coach the boys’ football, although after South Africa won the World Cup there has been a big interest in rugby so I'm trying to introduce it to them.  Even after all those hours out at Anniesland it’s much more difficult than I thought it would be.
 
I've made some really good friends in the local community, most of them I met when I started playing for the local football team - Longlead Celtic.  They love to show off the new 'European striker': there is nothing like pressure to improve your game!   I've also been learning to ride a horse in my spare time; a slight problem is there are no saddles, so I need to learn bare-back.  I've had one pretty spectacular fall and it can be fairly painful at times, but luckily no serious injuries so far.
 
I'm also going to take this opportunity to tell the rugby guys back home that I met the Springboks when they paraded the World Cup round SA and I was within touching distance of the trophy. Oh, and I also saw the Currie Cup final, and managed to get a wee touch as well. I think I must be one of only a very few Scots to have touched that cup!

Neil Dowers, 2005

I spent the year after I left The Glasgow Academy in Brisbane, Australia playing cricket at the Australian Sports Gateway (ASG) Cricket Academy. The cricket pro at the school, Vedam Hariharan, put me in contact with Brad Murphy, who runs the set-up out there, and lent a hand in organising everything before I left.

The ASG provides a high class of accommodation and cricket coaching for cricketers of all abilities – from gap year students like me to County professionals, such a Mark Wallace, the Glamorgan wicket keeper, whom I met during my spell. Cricket Scotland have also sent a number of players out in the past, including Saltires regular Fraser Watts, who recently recorded the highest ever score for Scotland in a one-day international, 171*, against Denmark at New Anniesland.

Over my trip I had many fantastic experiences, including: meeting and training with several international stars, including the greats Brian Lara, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and Muttiah Muralitharan; spending Christmas day on a beach near Melbourne (sadly, it rained); climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge; SCUBA diving at the Great Barrier Reef (to Mr. Spike’s intense envy); and helping to dig newly hatched baby turtles out the sand at 1 o’clock in the morning on Fraser Island, with Conservation Volunteers Australia.

The experiences of my gap year will stay with me for life. I learned so much about cricket, about people, about independence and about myself. I would encourage thoroughly anyone who is considering taking a year out – it’s well worth it.