THE concept of a gap year is something of a modern phenomenon.
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In days past, young men and women would go straight from the confines of the classroom after completing Year 12 and into either the workforce or university.
But taking a year to gather your thoughts, travel, save some money or just improve your socialising is now a popular option.
We caught up with three teenagers from across the south-west who are in the middle of their gap year.
Lewis Dodwell is tapping into Hollywood as part of his gap year experience.
The 19-year-old, former Emmanuel College student is working at the Capitol Theatre.
“I do five shifts a week working as an usher and also in the candy bar,” Mr Dodwell said.
“It is mainly customer service but there is also some cleaning involved. I love working there, it is a great job for a young person to have.”
Mr Dodwell may be close to the on-screen action but that doesn’t mean he gets to mix work with play.
“I don’t get to watch the movies, you might go in every now and then if you need to check the crowd but not very often. I go in towards the end of the film so we have time to clean and get ready for the next show.”
Popcorn, full drink cups and chips are some of the more common items of rubbish Mr Dodwell and his co-workers are left to clean up at the end of each film.
Mr Dodwell said staff are kept busy with the magic of the big screen still very much alive.
“We get a wide range of people come along to the cinema,” he said.
“Numbers are really good, people still love going to the movies.”
When he is not working, Mr Dodwell spends his time catching up with mates.
He and a group of friends have a trip planned to Thailand next month.
Mr Dodwell plans to go to Deakin University in Waurn Ponds next year where he will study professional writing. He is looking forward to the challenge but is making sure his gap year is a memorable experience.
“It is good to have some time off school, 13 years is a long time,” Mr Dodwell said.
“You can finish work and catch up with mates and not have worry about homework.”
Aylish Auchettl has plenty to keep her occupied in her first year post secondary school.
Miss Auchettl has some clear ambitions for her future. She plans to move to Melbourne in 2017 to study health science at La Trobe University in Bundoora.
She won her spot there thanks to an outstanding VCE campaign at Warrnambool College last year.
Miss Auchettl, 18, is working two jobs during her gap year. By day, she works as a retail assistant at Style Active by Chloe in Warrnambool.
In the evening, she wanders down Liebig Street to Bojangles where she works a waitress.
With an outgoing and bubbly personality, Miss Auchettl is a natural to be in customer service.
“I love having conversations with people, it’s good fun,” Miss Auchettl said.
“Sometimes people get a bit agitated when their food takes a while to come out.
“But most of the time everyone is really friendly and easy to deal with and the people I work with at both jobs are great.”
When she isn’t working, Miss Auchettl is anything but idle.
A talented sportsperson, Miss Auchettl is in training for the Sports Aerobics World Championships to be held in Vienna in October.
It will not be her first appearance on the international stage, having been to the championships previously in Prague, Amsterdam and Martinique.
She describes sports aerobics as a cross between gymnastics and cheerleading.
So far, her best showing at a world championship is sixth, a result she is keen to better in 2016.
“I really think we can get a medal this year,” Miss Auchettl said.
“I am training six or seven times a week.
“I love training and competing, I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t enjoy it.”
Her time at the world championships will give Miss Auchettl a taste of life away from home.
“I’m looking forward to living in Melbourne next year,” she said.
‘It will be exciting getting to meet some new people.”
Yvette Raymond has already learnt some valuable skills during her gap year.
Among those is how to pour a good beer, a talent that could find her work the world over.
Miss Raymond has picked up this trick of the trade during her time working at the Star of the West Hotel in her home town of Port Fairy.
The former Brauer College student divides her time behind the bar with waitressing in the hotel’s bistro.
“My bosses, Damian and Sue Gleeson, have been really good to me,” Miss Raymond said.
“I have to make a certain amount to get the living away from home allowance next year so Damian and Sue have been great in making sure I get enough shifts.
“I had never worked behind a bar before so it is good work experience to have, it will certainly help me find work when I go to uni.”
Miss Raymond is off to Monash University in Melbourne next year where she has been accepted into medicine.
She has the lofty aim of specialising in pediatrics and obstetrics.
“I worked out medicine was what I wanted to do back in Year 9,” Miss Raymond said.
“I put a lot of work into Year 12, it was a pretty stressful year, I had a few meltdowns.
“But at the end when I got the score I wanted it was all worth it, I’m really excited about going to uni next year.”
With such dedication to her studies, Miss Raymond has been able to make a successful transition to the demands of life in the workforce.
Working up to 25 hours a week is a challenge she is embracing.
“To me it doesn’t feel any different to going to school,” she said.
“I used to get up in the morning knowing I had to go to school, now I get up knowing I have to go to work.
“Probably the hardest thing to adjust to was spending a full shift on my feet.
“The busy times have been pretty frantic, things like the folk festival and New Year’s Eve.”
Miss Raymond is also using her gap year to build her fitness, regularly hitting the roads around Port Fairy for a run.