Masters or Travel?

ruhere2

Nothing is wrong with taking a holiday or break between studies. Especially if is during the summer. And with the travel, you can pick up personal experiences to work that can work with in your interest in European Politics and Culture. It is one thing to study subjects in Uni but another to see it in action.

MsDelightful

"those with the MA may be able to dicuss the finer points of the German economy, but they will never be able to talk about how they've helped develop the culture of a community in rural Africa or how they've taught chinese students about the politics of britain."

oo we have an idealist, but to be honest those volunteer projects are not all it seems on their glossy brochure. I appreciate everyone's experience may be different, and everyone's pickiness levels are different, but I certainly felt my placement (in a school, then a turtle conservatory in sri lanka) was more set up for my benefit than those of the community. the school had its own curriculum and i was a bit of a nuisance to fit in, and the turtles, well they took so long to hatch that I was just sat on the beach for literally a month.

plus I had to pay a fortune for the pleasure of inconveniencing the locals. In fact i got the feeling I could have made much more difference if i just directly donated my fees and living costs to the school.

Sorry to burst the bubble but these poor countries need money much more than volunteers. so be careful what you pick.

And to continue my cynical streak, they are still a goldmine for blue chip interviews, sad as it is that's the state of the world