Green River College Gap Year

I arrived at Green River College in the middle of the pandemic. I wanted to go to the US because it’s such a special experience to study abroad even in COVID times. Sure it’s very different from "normal" times, but I do not regret that I made the decision to spend three months at Green River College.

First of all, the support and attention Green River gives to international students is great! You can always (virtually) speak to someone to just ask questions. Unfortunately, we could not always meet in person but the college organizes a lot of games and activities online so you can meet new people. The virtual and on-campus classes are very good, of course, meeting fully in person would be better, but it’s a great alternative for now. So don’t hesitate.

Green River College is a great school to experience studying abroad. Even in the pandemic I still love to study at Green River College. Studying abroad is such a great experience, so if you can, do it! And don't let it stop you due to pandemic. At first, it’s very exciting and a bit scary to study abroad, but it will change very fast. I’m sure you will have no regrets.

I decided to go abroad and spend one year in an English-speaking country to experience a different culture and to further advance my language skills. The US or Canada were my favorites considering that I never travelled outside of Europe before. At first I didn´t know about this type of gap year – more common are voluntary social services at home or Work&Travel (due to visa restrictions not possible in the US though). But then I figured out that there´s another great opportunity out there: taking an academic gap year. I was really excited because it combines the freedom of a gap year with education that would help me to decide what to choose as major after coming back.

I did some research and came across an article about a few colleges that offer this kind of program, GRC was among them. My choice for Green River College was mainly based upon three considerations. Firstly its excellent international program. I´d say that their website and program description left a very good first impression and convinced me that they really care for their students. Secondly its location in the Pacific Northwest. GRC has a beautiful campus not far from Seattle (and even within reasonable travel-distance to Canada!). Thirdly the opportunity to transfer to California, Hawaii or Australia and New Zealand after completing one quarter in Auburn. I decided to do the "Gap Year to California" program. So I attended Green River College during Fall quarter and Santa Barbara City College during Spring Semester.

There are so many things I liked about this program that it is difficult to pick one. What I liked most about GRC are all the events and trips the College is offering, So we got to explore so many cool sights throughout Washington state, while my favorite things about Santa Barbara City College were the beautiful town of Santa Barbara and the Californian sunshine (the song “it never rains in Southern California” is actually true!). It´s really hard to say which one I liked better, I am glad that I went to both GRC and SBCC because they offered very different and unique experiences.

I would definitely reconmend this program to friends! It truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity. During this year I not only took interesting classes and experienced college life in the US, but also got to see the whole West Coast all the way from Vancouver B.C. down to Mexico, made friends from all over the world and travelled to New York, Hawaii and Iceland. So if you like to travel, are curious to explore new things, want to become independent or just need a break from daily life in your home country, it’s a great choice!

My Gap Year at Green River College was the best time of my life and going there was easily the best decision I've made in my life so far. I met so many people from all over the world who I became friends with, travelled several states and visited lots of fascinating places. There is a lot to do in the Pacific Northwest and Seattle is an amazing, liberal city which offers something for everyone. The college itself offers lots of classes, meaning that Gap Year students are given the freedom to explore and find out what they want to do in life.

Also, the college offers trips to numerous sights around the Pacific Northwest. Activities range from hiking over shopping to museum visits. One can also join a club. There is definitely a lot to do at Green River College. No excuse for being bored! Working on campus is a good way to make some money and get to know people in a professional environment where students are given responsibility from day one.

The Gap Year at Green River College has broadened my horizon in lots of different ways. I met people who I will stay in touch with for the rest of my life. As we always said - no matter where you'll go in the world, you'll always be able to stay at a friend's place! The world became a much smaller place during my Gap Year and that has shown me how we are all much connected with and important to one another than one might think.

Wow, what an amazing expercience I had at Green River College! Going on a gap year was one of the best decisions I made. First I would only stay for one quarter, yet I was having the time of my life and decided to stay longer. For international students they organize a whole introweek with also a really fun intro camp. It's the time to meet new people and get to know the Seattle area. My gap year aloud me to try out all kinds of different courses, like carpentry and photogrpahy. Living on campus was really chill. It is an easy way to meet new people and it's not far from the school, which allows for some extra minutes of sleep ;). The student life program is very well organized and I tried to participatie in every activity. Because of the activities I got to see many beautiful and fun places in Washington state and these activities got me really into hiking. It became one of my favorite activities to do on my free days. John the leader of most student life activities had me organize a small trip to Olympic National park, the rain forest. I couldn't believe my eyes. The colours of the trees and plants were so pure and pretty, if you have the chance I recommend a visit. Students are important at the college and the staff really supports and helps you. This gives many oppurtunities to active participate in school life and events, which really gives you the feeling that you are part of a community. I got to know so many fun and nice people, my confidence got a boost, I had the oppurtunity to make a lot of fun trips, experience cool classes and I made memories I will never forget.

To explore Washington, a friend and I, decided to rent a car and go on a adventure for the weekend. Our idea was to go to Mount Rainier, Olympic National Park and Shi Shi Beach. We left early in the morning on Saturday. We drove to the South side of Mount Rainier. On our way there we suddenly saw an elk, standing in the middle of the road. It was still dark but we could clearly see it. The size of the elk was absolutely enormous! After seeing the elk, we went to watch the sun rise at reflection lake. Harsh conditions and spectaculair views, that is the best description of that sunrise. We had breakfast and drove further towards the parking lot form where our hike would start. We parked the car and started walking towards camp Muir (located at 10.188 ft.) On our way we had spectaculair views of rugged mountains and glaciers. When we looked closer we saw more and more animals. I was able to photograph them from very close in their natural environment, that was such an amazing experience. After hiking for several hours, we decided to go back to the car. We wanted to get some sleep, because we had to get up even earlier the next day if we wanted to make it all the way to the west coast. The next morning we woke up at 4 am, trust me, terrible! We drove off towards Olympic National park. We made a morning hike, watching the sun rise and eating breakfast with a spectaculair view over the valley. Temperatures were rising so to cool off we 'climbed' down all the way to the river below us. We took off our clothes and had a swim in ice cold glacier water. We went back to the car and drove a little bit further to the lake which was known for having lots of salmon during that time of year. We walked into the river and had over a hundred salmon swimming around us. The water was so cold you could feel the pain in your bones, but it didn't matter. The view, the salmon, the whole experience was so amazing. It was already getting late so we decided to head toward Shi Shi beach. We drove through a Indian reserve, super special. After a two mile race agains the sun we arrived at the beach. We were absolutely speechless. It was one of the most rewarding and special sunsets. The only mistake we made was that we didn't think of out way back. It got dark really fast and we still had to hike back those 2 miles trough the woods with bears, snakes and other creepy animals. To make this even better, we only had one flashlight and that was wasn't even working properly. Nevertheless, after hiking for more than an hour we made it back to the car. We drove back home and came home early in the morning. The next day we had class, but we still thought about the amazing weekend we had! I'll never forget this weekend.