Building Resilience: Misadventures on a Gap Year by Jonah Cedar For the last couple of months, I’m sure you’ve heard the new buzz word sweeping the nation and no, I am not talking about the C-word. I am talking about resilience. Every politician I listen to, every optimistic voice on a podcast, and even I in countless emails have proclaimed that in a few months time, we as a nation will come out of this new normal with a resilience we have never had before. But what is resilience really? How do we measure it and how do we achieve…
Voices Project
Voices Project Video: Matthew Kenny on the moment he knew he had to go home… and why with Matthew Kenny Often, the lessons in gap year come with going. But, sometimes, the greatest lessons are in coming home. Matthew Kenny took a gap year before he applied to Harvard Graduate School of Education in Human Development. Watch as he talks about the pressing need to go, and to explore, as well as the moment he knew it was time to come home. Watch all the way to the end, because his “why” moment of realization is a breathtaking one. Share…
The Voices Project: How to Gap Year, by Emu with Emu Wondering how to gap year? THIS is how to gap year! Emu sums it up with this video. It’s definitely a “watch and share!” Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on linkedin Share on pinterest Share on reddit Share on google
The Voices Project: Ronen on Challenging Beliefs & Abilities on a Gap Year With Ronen S Ronen’s Gap Year Overview High School: Trinity School, New York City University: University of Chicago 2020 May-August: Worked as busboy at pizza and Greek food restaurant September-December: Did work for room and board in France, Italy, and Germany through Workaway January-February: Worked as delivery boy at same restaurant in New York March-August: Thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, 2189 miles from Georgia to Maine Memorable Moment I’ll never forget the breeze on my face as I biked home from the restaurant every night at 1am. I…
The Voices Project: Lindsay Foreman-Murray on the space and time to appreciate what life has to offer with Lindsay Foreman-Murray Thinking about starting this piece, I am torn between two equally representative moments from my Gap Year: the first, waking up in a hostel in Ireland, surrounded by sleeping strangers who had become my new best friends in the last 24 hours, listening to the sounds of the sheep outside the windows, the snores of the other people in my bunk room, and the happy clank of other residents making breakfast in the old stone kitchen next door. This moment…
Kai Johnson on Leadership & Transformation with Kai Johnson To Gap is to Grow. To Gap is to Transform. My first gap year experience came during my sophomore year of University. Like so many others, I had gone on to university because it was “what you do.” After a year of excessive drinking during my freshman year, I ended up with multiple drinking tickets before starting my sophmore year, and a court mandated drinking education class. I was confused, depressed, and lost. I had no idea why I was in school, no idea what I wanted to study, and no…
Voices Project: Kempie Blythe on Redefining Paradise with Kempie Blythe I remember that day vividly. I was on a road trip down the East Coast visiting a few friends who had just started college. Before I left Baltimore, I squeezed in breakfast at a local diner. In between bites of eggs and hash browns, I glanced up at the TV and assumed a “Die Hard” movie was playing, though 9am seemed a little early for the Bruce Willis franchise. I got in my car and headed south through Washington D.C. only later to find out the images I had seen…
The Voices Project: Nan on Growing Up and Overcoming Hardship on a Gap Year with Nan, gap year alum Nan’s Gap Year Overview High school: Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn, NY University: Stanford 2020 September-December: Ballymaloe Cookery School 12-week intensive course December-January: Hung out at home January-May: ISA Spring 4 Semester in Spain at the University of Salamanca Memorable Moment Taking a road trip to a food festival in Dingle, Ireland with two of my friends from cooking school. We pulled up to the beach in the dark and slept there in the car, and when we woke up everything was…
Voices Project: Maddy B: On the Growth During a Gap Year with Maddy Bazil Maddy Bazil Gap Year Overview Highschool: Walter Johnson HS, Bethesda MD University: University of St. Andrews 2018 August-October: Córdoba, Argentina – Volunteered with Projects Abroad Human Rights office October-December: Worked in retail at home in Washington DC January-March: Travelled around Israel and surrounding places (10 day Birthright trip, then independently backpacked around Tel Aviv, Haifa, the Galilee (3 weeks spent WWOOFing on a goat farm), Negev Desert (hiked in the desert and travelled to Jordan), West Bank March-April: Studied French at L’Institut de Touraine in Tours,…
Voices Project: A Gap Year to Focus on Golf by Jordan Fuller The thought of taking a gap year started with an idea I stumbled upon in a book during my studies. I had been reading a great deal on the topic of “redesigning your life” when I found Tim Ferriss, bestselling author of several books including the Four Hour Workweek. In the Four Hour Workweek, Ferriss argues that we spend the best years of our life working ourselves into exhaustion in order to one day retire during the twilight of our lives hoping we’ve saved enough to enjoy the…