A gap year isn't the only way to see the world before university - a number of other options exist

In the summer before university, I rode a minibus to Blandford Forum in Dorset to attend a Greek summer school. Sitting next to me was a boy with Scout badges pinned to his polo shirt. ‘I like your costume,’ he told me, eyeing my blouse. ‘You look just like an air hostess. Or a Barbie doll dressed as an air hostess. All my girlfriends look like air hostesses.’

Poor Sebastian. He didn’t need to tell me that he came from a boys’ school in a remote corner of Kent. It was painfully obvious that he had never spoken to a girl in his life. But the sad truth was, I wasn’t much more experienced. I’d just mastered the art of concealing it.

I hadn’t taken a gap year. Too many of my friends had found the world too exciting ever to settle into university afterwards. So my little Dorset adventure with Sebastian was the closest I came to preparing myself for the transition from school to university life.