What did you do during your gap year?
I decided to have both an international and a professional experience during my gap year. First, between September and January, I studied as an exchange student at the Carlos III University in Madrid. Then, I started a six months internship in a public policy consulting company in Montpellier.
What have you learnt from those experiences?
The main challenge for me was to live in a foreign country, and I realised I was able to do so: finding an accommodation, understanding and being understood by people, adapting myself to a new scholar system, etc. By improving my levels in both English and Spanish, I also realised I was now able to communicate with people from all around the world!
I also acquired more professional skills – technical and relational ones – during my internship, which will be very helpful for my future experiences.
Did you do your gap year after your bachelor or between your M1 and M2? Why so?
I did my gap year between my M1 and my M2. I made this choice because a lot of people at TSE told me that the M1 was the most difficult year. I preferred to pass all my M1 exams before leaving TSE for a year. I thought that the transition between the gap year and the M1 would have been harder than the one between the gap year and the M2.
Do you have recommendations / advice for TSE students about the “gap year experience”?
If you want to, just do it! Whether you decide to study in another university, to travel the world or to work as an intern, you will grow from this experience. You will know more about yourself and it will help you to make personal and professional choices in the future. We have the chance that TSE is encouraging to do a gap year; don’t miss this opportunity!
If I had just one more thing to say about my personal experience, it would be to give yourself some time if you want to have two distinct experiences as I did. I only had five days off between the end of my Erasmus exchange and the beginning of my internship. The transition was hard at first, so I would advise you to have a break in between.
The TSEconomist 