Taking a Gap Year is a Must

Taking a Gap Year was an essential part of my learning and should be a cornerstone of the modern education system. My voyage phase abroad opened my eyes to new cultural experiences and blessed me with lifelong friends and family. I spent two months abroad in Quito, Ecuador where I taught English as a second language and environmental education to around 500 elementary school students a day. Teaching alongside other fellows and volunteers was a fantastic experience for us that created one of the highlights of my life by helping others in an impactful way. I also had the freedom to travel and discover a totally new country with new friends and travel companions. The launch phase placed us in San Francisco, the epicenter of a tech revolution and the heart of entrepreneurship today. Here, we were surrounded by countless opportunities to network and tap into Uncollege's resources. We attended work shops each day that taught us invaluable lessons that are not taught in university lecture halls. Personal finance, negotiation, and how to have difficult conversations were all topics we learned from guest speakers who came in to teach us their expertise from specific fields. Everyone who came in to teach us cared deeply about our success and wanted us to learn that topic because it was of great importance to their career and/or personal life. The launch phase provided the education and the frame work for us to move into our internships and beyond.