| 1 | 1 | | Most of us leave school like a bullet out of a gun. No more teachers breathing down |
| 2 | | your neck, and ultimately, total freedom. But as Yasmin Boland discovered when talking to |
| 3 | | two girls that left school one year ago, your choices are basically another school, work or |
| 4 | | unemployment. Whichever you choose, it's time to prepare for the rest of your life. |
| | | |
| 2 | 5 | | All through school Keely McLaren, 17, of London, had her heart set on a career in |
| 6 | | travel. Now, in her first year out, she's working in a travel agent's in London's West End. |
| 3 | 7 | | 'I'm doing this job as part of a travel agents' training scheme, and so I also go to |
| 8 | | college. H's only 22 days a year but I have self-study packs which I have to work on for an |
| 9 | | hour at work every day. My final exams are in December and hopefully I'Il do OK. When I |
| 10 | | complete the course, I'll basically be trained to do exactly what I'm doing now - but the |
| 11 | | difference is that I'll have the piece of paper which says I'm qualified. |
| 4 | 12 | | The biggest difference between school and work was that I ran out of energy. My |
| 13 | | school was just across the road from my house but for work I have to get up at 5.30 a.m. |
| 14 | | and get the train into London. Then it's a full day in the office and home again. I'm getting |
| 15 | | used to it now, but it's taken all year. |
| 5 | 16 | | The hardest thing to get used to was being nervous. When I started, I thought "Oh |
| 17 | | Lord! What if I can't do it?" H's amazing to think I'm actually organising people's annual |
| 18 | | holidays and it's up to me if they have a good time or not, at least as far as the organisation |
| 19 | | is concerned. I've taken it slowly and I still check everything over and over before finishing |
| 20 | | it. |
| 6 | 21 | | In the past year I've enjoyed everything a lot more than I thought I would. One of |
| 22 | | the best things overall, though, has been learning to talk to older people on their level. At |
| 23 | | school, I never would have had the confidence to talk to businessmen or other people |
| 24 | | much older than me. But in my work I've learned that at last.' |
| | | |
| 7 | 25 | | Sarah Blunt, 17, of North London, left school last year. The past 12 months haven't |
| 26 | | exactly gone to plan, and for a large part of this period she's been unemployed. 'When I |
| 27 | | left school I enrolled at college to do journalism. I really thought it was what I wanted to |
| 28 | | do - the course was excellent, with radio, TV, print and so on. I started, but the same thing |
| 29 | | happened to me that had happened at school. I just didn't want to be there, I couldn't |
| 30 | | concentrate, I didn't want to know anyone there. |
| 8 | 31 | | I didn't find work straight away. Throughout, Mum was great in helping me. She |
| 32 | | didn't charge me for food or board or anything. I couldn't afford to go out after a while, |
| 33 | | though, and when the money ran out, she put her foot down. She said she 'd be happy to |
| 34 | | give me money if I was studying but she didn't think it was right for me to get it when I |
| 35 | | wasn't even working. Eventually, I got a job as a telephone researcher. |
| 9 | 36 | | In some ways, I guess my first year out of school has been a waste. I've wasted myself |
| 37 | | emotionally and physically. But I think I needed the year off to clear my mind. Next year |
| 38 | | I'm determined to make a go of things. I still don't know what I want to do - but whatever |
| 39 | | it is, I'll be qualified for it. I've realised I need an education if I'm going to get anywhere in |
| 40 | | life.' |
| | | |
| | | from 'Just Seventeen', July 1O, 1991 |
