Alexandra (Sasha) Wilson HC 2022

Why did you choose to take a gap year?

I was presented with an amazing opportunity to live and work in a different country, and I just knew that I couldn’t pass it up. I was thrilled with my A-level results and felt very comfortable deferring my history of art place at Bristol to take a break from studying and travel the world, as well as gaining work experience that might help me determine a career choice.

What did you do on your gap year?

I moved to Melbourne, Australia for the first six months of my gap year where I completed a marketing internship with Remedy, a drinks company that specialises in Kombucha; a fermented tea drink that promotes gut health.

I was thrown into the world of business meetings, coffee runs and office life with a fantastic team of Aussie colleagues. Remedy has taken Australia by storm with their drinks and I worked as a part of the marketing team and supported the e-commerce, social media and brand management sectors. I learnt mostly from my colleagues and was given access to Instagram and TikTok platforms which resulted in me creating and directing lots of fun and engaging social media content.

I worked full-time between the main headquarters in central Melbourne and the factory in Dandenong South on the outskirts of the city. The factory is the size of two football fields, and is where all the Kombucha is brewed, packaged and distributed from. I spent most of my time there packing orders and packaging PR boxes which would be sent to influencers around Australia and so I had a front-toback view of the company’s operations. After completing the six months of my internship, Remedy gave me the opportunity to travel to different parts of Australia to run public sampling campaigns. I was flown to Sydney and Brisbane to do this and ended up handing out over 30,000 cans of Kombucha - a magical way of exploring different parts of the country and getting a tiny taste of corporate travel.

I bade farewell to Australia with a heavy heart, but knew I wanted to continue travelling and so I booked a flight to Bangkok to start six weeks of travel in South East Asia alongside my school friends Daisy and Martha. We explored Thailand and Vietnam, which provided many of the highlights of my year, including the Ha Giang Loop, a 4-day motorbike tour through the mountains and lakes of North Vietnam, with breath-taking scenery, delicious home-cooked food and ‘happy water’ (rice wine) to accompany.

What have you gained from the experience?

I have learnt so much. For the first half of my year, I learnt how to completely uproot my life, move across the globe and start a job in a corporate environment. This turned my world upside down (literally!) and now I feel such a sense of achievement and pride for taking this leap. I also learnt how to live with the feeling of being outside of your comfort zone, as this is often where the most fun happens and the best memories are made.

Would you recommend it to current sixth formers?

Unquestionably and without a moment’s hesitation! I never once looked back and it was genuinely a life-affirming experience. I would recommend that the girls in the years below grab any opportunities they come across with both hands and go for it! Although it can be daunting at times, I don’t regret one thing I did! ■

Sasha at Uluru, Northern Territory Australiaher group was part of the 1% of tourists to see Uluru during a thunderstorm