Developing Skills and Experience Before Uni

Author: Lara Walters

Lara is changing lives in her gap year as a Yipiyap Tutor. Think you could be a future Yipiyap?

Developing essential skills on my gap year

Essential skills help us through life in more ways than we can understand which is why Yipiyap decided to create a program which offers Yipiyaps the opportunity to improve and master skills that are essential in all aspects of life.

The essential skills program offers you the chance to pick a skill which you will then spend two weeks researching, reflecting on independently, and finally presenting until you have a thorough understanding of the best ways to put this skill into practice in your work life or even your personal life.

How does it work?

You may be asking yourself; how does this actually work in practice? The skills range from the more researched based to the practical, not only providing you with the chance to improve your academics but also improve more practical areas such as how to motivate others.

Examples of Essential Skills:

• Time management

• Global awareness

• Dispute resolution.

Once you have decided on the skill you want to focus on you begin your skills record. This is the document where all of your research and practice will be logged and signed off as proof that you have indeed mastered that skill.

Boosting my CV with Yipiyap

I got involved with the essential skills program because I wanted to make additions to my CV and brush up on my independent research skills. I am always looking to improve and become a more rounded person so when offered the opportunity to take part in such an amazing program I thought it would be a mistake to turn it down! I learnt more than I thought possible during the program. I have learnt a lot about skills that previously I had no interest in. When researching and gathering evidence you do begin to fully understand how the skills do add value and are of use in wider life.

For me this showed most in my project on time management where initially I had issues with being productive in the mornings. When I began to put my research into practice I was more efficient with my time in the mornings and now I genuinely enjoy my wake-up routine. Who knew yoga at 06:00 felt so good!

More than just the practical side, the academic elements were also very enjoyable for me. My project on global awareness really reminded me how much I love to learn new concepts and really get under the skin with the research. My focus on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) seemed appropriate; how it is portrayed in the media was something that piqued my interest. Fake news and its impact on public perception is a topic I believe to be very important in society. The information and statistics I uncovered were eye opening and really reignited my passion for independent research and learning as a whole.

Most importantly this program has helped me with my confidence. Although I thought myself to be a good public speaker this experience has shown me many ways to improve. The first few weeks presenting my ideas was very difficult. For some reason talking about adaptations in science or Macbeth in English seems so much easier than presenting something you created yourself. However, as the weeks continued I began to feel more assured in what I was doing. Using the feedback from others I reflected on what I had to do to improve and made adjustments which made me feel much more confident in my ability to convey my ideas clearly.

Summing it up

I could talk endlessly about the benefits of the essential skills program so I’ll leave you with one final comment. Personal growth is paramount to success and being able to reflect, learn, and overcome is a huge part of that growth. More than just learning three skills over six weeks you are learning how to adapt ideas, improve research, discuss key topics, plus endless other elements too that can be pinned as attributes of a person who can grow independently and become the very best version of themselves.

This is why I believe engaging with developing essential skills is something all Yipiyaps should consider to help them on their journey after their gap year.