52 students unaware of gap year.docx

52 students unaware of gap year.docx

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52studentsunawareofgapyear

52%studentsunawareofgapyear:

Survey

AlltheresponsesarebasedonChinaDaily’sonlinesurvey;theresultsareforreferenceonly.

WithmanystudentsinChinatakingtimeofffromstudies,alsoknownasgapyear,thiswebsiteconductedanonlinesurveytofindouthowmanyChinesewereawareofthisconcept.

Here’sadetailedlookatthestudythatwastitledHaveyouheardofgapyear?

Theresultanalysisincludesanswersfromall3,146respondents.Outofthosewhoparticipatedinthesurvey,85percentwerebetweentheageof18and24,withallofthemincollege.

Bytargetingthisdemography,thestudyprovidesabetterpictureoftheawarenesslevel.Theresultsshowthat52percentofrespondentshavenotheardofgapyear,13percenthaveonlyrudimentaryknowledge,while4percentknowgapyearverywell,withsomeofthemalreadytakentimeofffromcollegeorplanningtogoongapyear.

Haveyouheardof‘gapyear’?

○No,Neverheard

○Yes,butknowlittle

○Yes,andfamiliarwithit

○Yes,andisanadvocator

submit

gapyears---achoiceforyoungChinese

Directionsforaproductivegapyear

InWesterncountries,itisacommonpracticeforhighschoolgraduatesorevencollegestudentstotemporarilystepofftheacademictreadmillandtakeagapyeartotravelorworkorexploreotherinterests.Whatbenefitscanstudentsgetfromagapyear?

Andwhatpreliminaryworkdoyouneedtodotomakeitmoreproductive?

EightmonthsinBeijing

Editor’snote:

Thethemeofthisinterviewistoshareexperiencesandenhancereaders’understandingofgapyearsandprovidingadviceforfutureparticipants.HereisoneinterviewwithDavidZhuwhoisagraduatefromColumbiaUniversityandnowaCEOofCiXiangMao,anInternetcompanyinBeijing.

Q:

Introduceyourselfandoverallsituationinthegapyearbriefly.

A:

ZhuYingnan,youcanalsocallmeDavid,ItookagapyearinBeijingfromSeptember2010toJune2011.

Timeline:

-OnMay2010Ifinishedmyjunioryear.

-FromJunetoAugust2010,IinternedintheinformationmanagementdepartmentofGoldmanSachs，HongKong.

-FromSeptember2010toMay2011Iwentonagapyear.

-FromJunetoAugust2011IinternedintheinvestmentbankingdepartmentofGoldmanSachs,HongKong.

-InSeptember2011IreturnedtotheUniversityofColumbia.

Q:

Whatwasthebiggestobstacletoyourwaywhenyoutookyourgapyear?

Howdidyouovercomeit?

A:

Mybiggestobstaclewastheobjectionfrommymother.Shecouldn’tunderstandwhyIhadtosuspendaschoolyeartodotheseso-called“necessary”things.Igaveherlotsofexplanations:

aftergraduationIwouldbetoobusywithworktodosomethingIlike;ifIsuspendedmyjobatthattime,Iwouldpaymoreformydream.Besides,Icouldusethetripasagoodopportunitytoreexaminemyself,whichwouldpossiblyhelpmemakeawiserdecisiononwheretoworkinthefuture.Inmymother’seyesalloftheseargumentswerenotacceptable.MyfamilydidnotagreewithmyplanuntilIsaidIcouldfindsomegoodinternshipsduringtheperiodwhichcouldhelpmegetanedgeonothercompetitorsinjobmarkets.

Q:

Whydidyouwanttogoonagapyear?

Didyougetanysupportandunderstandingfromyourfamilyorfriends?

A:

Americasawaseverefinancialcrisisin2008andmanyAmericanuniversitystudentsworriedaboutwhethertheycouldlandagoodjobaftergraduation.Somewhopreviouslyintendedtogetajobhereevenbegantoconsiderworkinginsomedevelopingcountries.However,theChineseeconomywasmuchbetteratthattime,whichgavelotsofoverseasstudentsarayofhope.Iwassenttostudyabroadattheageof10andnowmanyofmylivinghabitshadbeenwesternized.IknewlittleabouttheChinesesocietyandsocialcustoms.ThenthemostconfusingthingIhavewaswheretoworkaftergraduation-NewYork,Beijing,ShanghaiorHongKong.Iwouldratherexperiencewhateachcitywaslikethansimplydaydreaminmydorm.

Differentpeoplehavedifferentopinionsaboutgraduation.IwasinthecircleofABCwhenIwasstudyingatColumbiaUniversity,somysurroundingfriendsalltookitforgrantedthattheyshouldgotoWallStreetaftergraduation,sodidmyfamily.TheyalsothinkthatstayinginAmericaisthebestchoice,whiletheyalsoacceptdevelopedinternationalfinancialcenterslikeHongKong.

Myfriendstotallyrepudiatedmydecision.Intheiropinionitwasagreatpitythatwecouldn’tgouptothestagetogetourgraduationcertificatescollectivelyafterspendingfouryearsstudyingtogether.Theydidn’tunderstandwhyIwantedtodelayoneyeartograduate.Actually,Icaredalotaboutthismatterthen,butnowIrecallitisalittlesilly.Graduationisoverrated;itisjustamoment,thoughitisworthwhile.However,theexperienceofagapyearcouldaccompanymeallmylife.Moreover,IwouldsurelycomebackChinatoseekopportunities;thereforerelationshipsestablishedathomearemoreworthwhilethanthoseestablishedatabroad.Atthattime,alotofpeerswantedtoengageinfinanceinWallStreet,whethertheylikedordislikedtheidea.Iwasawareoffiercecompetitioninourgenerationandbegantofeellikeothers“justbeinterestedinfinance”.ThenIwouldn’tstandout,eventhoughI’dgraduatedfromColumbiaUniversity。

Inaword,actually,mypressureisprettybigduringthegapyear，becauseasforme,gapyearisnotmeanttotravelaroundtheworldtohavefun,itmeanstohavesomepersonalachievements,evenbetterthanthatImadeduringtheuniversity.

第2页（共2页）

Q:

Whatpreparationsdidyoumakebeforetraveling,includingpreviousplans,financialpreparationsandtimes?

A:

Tobehonest,beforethegapyear,Ihadn’tpreparedalot.InBeijing,IgottoknowalotoffriendsandacquiredsomeinternopportunitiesandactivityinformationviaNGO“GlobalChinaConnection”madebyus.Onfinance,theinternshipsalarysupporteddailyexpensesduringthegapyear,butofcoursethereweresomeextraexpensesliketravel,Iwouldunabashedlygetsupportfrommyparents.

AfterIcametoBeijing,thefirstthingwastofindaninternship.Afterhavingapart-timeinternshipinawellknowninternationalmanagementandconsultantancycompany,Icaughtmybreathbecausethisjobwouldcomfortmyparents.Later,afteraperiodofinternship,Ididn’tfindmuchbenefitsincebigcompaniesdon’thaveanytrainingforpart-timeinternsorspendtimetellingthemthereasonfordoingsomething.It’seasytounderstand,becausethecompanywon’tspendmuchtimeonpeoplewhowillbegoneafterseveralmonths.

Afterwards,IwasbasicallyinastateofdevelopingwiththefreedomIhad.ViaGCC,Itookpartinallkindsofactivities,meetingwithactivity-relatedorganizationsandschools.Inhalfofthegapyearweorganizedatwo-weekcompanyvisitactivitywiththeMBAStudentUnionfromCheungKongGraduateSchoolofBusiness.Wevisitedmanyenterprises,includingLenovo,Baidu,InnovationWorks，Tudouandsoon.Thesewerethehottestcompaniesinourmindsatthattimeandplantedtheseedsforourfuturedecisiontostartourownbusiness.

Q:

Whatdifficultiesorproblemsdidyoumetinyourgapyear?

Didyouachievetheoriginalplans?

A:

Therearesomanyoverwhelmingandanxiousmomentsinthegapyearexperience,especiallywhenIwasaloneathome,notmeetinganyone,nottakingpartinanyactivity,nointernship.Inthosemoments,Ifeltataloss.Themostimportantthinginthegapyearistoarrangethetimeusefullyandnotwasteanytime,becauseitdoesn’thaveacurriculumandarrangedactivitieslikeschoollife,soonlywhenyouarrangeyourtimeproperlywillyougainalot.

Q:

Whatdidyougainthemostwhenyoulookbackoverthegapyearexperience?

Whatisyourgreatestregret?

Whatisthebiggestchangemadetoyourattitudesorhabits?

A:

Igainedthemostfromself-knowledgeandhavingtotryandgetawayfromschoollife.AlthoughIbegantoliveoncampuswhenIwas15,Iwasneveroutofschoollife.Livingoncampusmeansyoucouldn’tplanyourownscheduleandneedtoobeyothers’arrangementsforyou,includingdecidingonchoosingthetutorwhowillteachyou,classmateswhowillstudywithyou,yetyoucouldselectcourses,dormitoryandroommateonyourown.Therefore,livingoffcampustrulymeanstoexperiencethereallife.

Thereisnothingtoregret,buttheonlywillwastointernatanentrepreneurialfirmatthattime.SincetheInternetwasnotsohotlikenowadays,thechannelsofmediaexposureandrecruitmentwerealsolimited,IhadnoideaofinterninginanInternetcompanybutdidwanttointerninawell-knownenterprise.

ThebiggestchangeafterthegapyearisthatIfeelmoremature;itisdifficulttodescribe,becausemostobservationscomefromothers’opinionsonme,notself-evaluation.SomepeoplemaythinkIamagoodspeaker,orhaveexperiencedalot,othersmaythinkI’mgoodatdisguisingmyself;however,Ithinkitisapromotionofcapacityinallrespects.

Q:

Givetwopiecesofadvicetofreshmenwantingtoexperienceagapyear.

A:

Ifyouhaveafavoritedirectionaftergraduationbutmaynotbeabletoadvanceinthatdirection,youcouldtryagapyear,whenyoucandevelop.

Alternatively,ifyouhavenodirectionoranideaaboutyourlikesordislikesaftergraduation,youcouldtrysomethingfreshinthegapyeartofindoutwhatisyourinterest.

Q:

Whatimpressedyoumostlyinthegapyear?

A:

IjoinedaSinaWeiboNightparty,allofthebigV（verifiedWeibouserswhohavemorethan500,000followers）werepresent,likeJackMa，Kai-fuLee，YaoChen,PanShiyi,RenZhiqiangandFangWenshan.Iwasnobody,shockedbytheoccasion.Theimmediateinteractionwithaudiencesmademerealizethearrivalo