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Beth Grainger graduated with a BA Honours in 3D Design for Sustainability from University College Falmouth. She was awarded a Raleigh Graduate Bursary Award and took part in the charity’s volunteer gap year expedition in India. Choosing my gap yearWhen I graduated I was hoping to go into a job or work placement in sustainable design within a charitable organisation. Unfortunately due to the financial climate this proved really difficult and so I started temping as a waitress. I received an email advertising the Raleigh Graduate Bursary Award and this seemed like the perfect answer. It would let me gain the experience that employers wanted while doing something new and exciting on the other side of the world. Initially I was attracted to Raleigh by the fact that I could afford to go sooner because of the bursary. However after further research I realised that they offer a wider range of experiences that anyone else. The opportunity to experience trekking, conservation and community projects was hugely appealing. My gap year experiencesFor my environmental phase, my group were stationed just outside Bandipur National Park. We set up camp immediately on arrival; we constructed ‘basha’ beds using bamboo poles, canvas stretchers and tarps. Having spent the previous three weeks trekking and sleeping in a crowded four-person tent, my basha seemed like the comfiest bed I had ever slept in! Our group’s work involved helping to renovate a ranger station within the forest, by re-digging the elephant proof trench and digging the foundations for an onsite loo. The digging was hard work and the tasks would have been tedious had it not been for the fantastic people I was working with. We sang, played games and questioned each other constantly about every aspect of our lives back at home; we got to know each other pretty well, pretty quickly! There were days when it had rained, and we’d be delayed on our journey to the worksite; the soil would be heavy, sticky and hard to dig through. The team would be sweating away in the trench, trying to avoid the stinging hairy caterpillars. It seemed that every time group morale began to wane, the forest would reply with a reason for us to keep going. One day it would be a troupe of monkeys in the canopy, the next a pair of eagles soaring far overhead or a peacock in the undergrowth and, on several occasions, the very reason we were digging the trench: wild elephants. One of the highlights of the trip came when me and one of the project managers were taking a break and topping up our water. I noticed monkeys in a tree making an unusual amount of noise, bouncing around in the treetops. We stopped talking and expected to see a deer emerge, instead, an elephant walked out followed by a second one – only 30 feet away from us. I couldn’t believe my eyes; two wild elephants so close and apparently completely unaware of us being there. After a few minutes of watching them we realised that we were, on the outside of the ‘elephant proof trench’ which we had been digging to protect rangers from these very animals. We moved slowly across the bridge, got the rest of our group, and all stood together to watch the elephants disappear back into the bush. The group’s digging efforts that afternoon were refreshed by the knowledge that the work we were doing, whilst exhausting, was most definitely worthwhile. My adviceSince returning home, I have applied for numerous charity jobs, and have been offered a six month contract with the RSPB, working in public engagement. During my interview for the RSPB, I was able to talk about my experiences of working with diverse teams of people doing a wide range of different things. This helped me to explain why I would be good at a role which involved teamwork and working with the public. The experience of the expedition, its challenges and triumphs, made me realise and believe that I’m more than capable of doing a job I think is truly worthwhile. Raleigh has given me the confidence to make this leap. Further information | 
