KIVU Global Gap Year Program: Destinations Across the Globe

Kivu Gap Year has built a one of a kind experience for high school graduates. The program is designed to stretch you outside your comfort zone and ask you the tough questions all while under the guidance and support of an amazing staff. My perspectives changed and my idea of the world and people in it were altered. I was thrown into so many new situations, with new people who taught me more than I could have ever learned in a year of college. It was the unexpected conversations with people so different from myself and the new places so contrasting from where I grew up, that taught me the most. I began to learn how to live in community and what real community is supposed to look like. I learned how to respect and love people different than myself. And a huge thing I began to discover was where I belong in this enormous world and what my calling may be.

Kivu stands apart from other gap year programs because of the world class staff and the students that they draw in. They care about every individual that is a part of the program so deeply which I found to be so vital for growth this past year.
With Kivu you'll go to some pretty incredible places and do some pretty incredible things and for sure have some incredible memories. That said, the highlights of the year will be the people you meet along the way who will impact your life and journey! I would recommend this program to any individual who is open to being challenged in their faith, is willing to be pushed outside of your comfort zone and wants to experience a plethora of cultures and adventures!!

the KIVU gap year challenged me to be a better person, one who loves unconditionally and without borders. You learn to live in community with people who might not speak the same language, live in the same country or have similar background stories; you learn that you don't have to have things in common with people to form friendships, all you need to be is intentional. You learn to love God and love others the way Jesus spoke about, they way everyone should live. The program and the team did not force ideas on you about your faith but rather guided you and helped you explore your faith yourself. The internships you get placed with, no matter if they suit your interests or not, are incredible, through my internship in Philadelphia I unearthed my passion for international and special needs kids. You learn that being outside of your comfort zone is the best way to grow and learn more about yourself and the world around you. Gap year helped me grow in a multitude of ways, I have become a better student, I care more about school and my studies and realize the weight grades carry you through life. I have become a better family member and friend, really trying to be intentional with my loved ones. Even five months later, I am realizing things I learned on my gap year constantly. I would do gap year again in a heartbeat.

Take a gap year, you won't regret it! not once!!

While I lived in Rwanda I experienced a wall of culture shock, and struggled to move on. I was lonely and missing being home. However, thanks to my awesome KIVU leaders, they helped me take advantage of this time and use it for good by finding out more about myself and learn to thrive in my own personality. I learned to embrace the differences between me and others, but be able to enjoy new environments because of the hard questions about myself and my faith I was encouraged to answer while abroad. My leaders played a significant role in helping me get to this point by giving me guidance and helping me wrestle with these life altering questions.

The Kivu Gap year program is unlike anything you'll ever do. I was pushed out of my comfort zone in the most beautiful of ways, learned how to live in community and found friends who will be my people forever, and gained a better understanding of the world around me and where God can be found in everyday life. Wether it was in Urban America (I was in Denver), or the second semester of travel (living with a Rwandan host family, hiking Mt Kilimanjaro, exploring the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan, seeing the exact places Jesus performed his ministry, or swimming with whale sharks in the Philippines), I grew more as a person than I could have ever prepared for. The Kivu team took my peers and I into each location with no expectations, but rather the freedom to find our individuality within a global setting and explore our faith in a genuine and bold way. I learned how to make each moment in my life hold excitement and purpose, I learned that life isn't gonna be completely wonderful if I try to plan it myself, and that there is so much more out there than the American Dream. This program taught me how to immerse myself into cultures and be open minded, how to love the 'least of these' like Christ did, and how to live fully; any future travel or city living I'll experience has been made so much greater because of the things I learned at Kivu. I could go anywhere in the world (wether that be Europe or a classroom) with confidence and understanding, and this year has forever changed the way that I see the world and interact with others. I've grown more into myself and who God has called me to be. I've grown as a follower of Christ, as a student, as a sister and daughter, as a friend, and simply as a human being. It's now been a year since I ventured off on this journey, and I can genuinely say that as I'm now in college, I continue to learn things from my Gap Year every day. I'm so thankful for this program and for the way they take students out of their comfort zone and into the great big world.

Do Kivu Gap Year!! You won't regret it.

I never realized how much this would change my testimony! I recently spoke to a group of students about my gap year. I didn't use notes and I didn't need to! I spoke on faith and about how traveling the world can open your eyes to some of the hardest things you'll ever see but will increase your faith and understanding in a whole new level! Getting to be at different levels with professors and friends, new or old, because they want to know your story is a weird but incredibly gratifying feeling. I got so much feedback just based on stories I told. Not technically a story but really a major way in which I finally understood how much that gap year truly effected me.

Recently I've wondered what my freshman year would have looked like if I didn't do gap year. Maybe I would have joined a sorority or gone to more parties or cared less about some classes...or at least been more relatable. Who knows? There's no way of telling. Even with all these thoughts lingering in my mind, I have no regrets taking gap year.
Through the staff, friends, and hosts I've met through Kivu, I have gained a different perspective of the world. I have had hundreds of conversations with hundreds of different backdrops, and I remember them all very vividly because there's hardly ever a conversation during gap year that somehow doesn't change you. My leaders could not have been more perfect for the job. Josh and Dru are two of the most kind and empathetic people I have ever met, but they remain real and true to the hardships of life. They don't sugar coat things which is important in the process of "self discovery" (that sounds so cheesy).
My parents had a lot of fears for me when I left for gap year, but I never felt in any danger at any point in time. I struggled with high anxiety for most of life, and over the process of being pushed into the world alone, I have learned to be alone and be okay with it. I found the peace of walking around downtown Philadelphia just eating a donut and listening to music alone, or taking a solo moto ride in Rwanda. There is so much to be said about the importance of solitude when it comes to fighting anxiety, and gap year gave me no choice but to find that value.
I believe that the heart of education is education of the heart. I'm positive my freshman year of college would have looked much different without having done gap year. I have gained perspective on what school is truly about. I now face days with purpose because I've had to experience life on my own. I owe who I am today to Kivu.

Best and hardest year of my life hands down. The things I got to encounter on a day to day basis were indescribable and I will never forget the relationships I got to experience and create. Taking a year off to see the world and see where I fit into it all really helped shape and mold me into the person I am today, and I don't think I would be on the same path as I am today if I did not take this great leap of faith. Kivu is very intentional about every place you travel to and the things you learn in each specific place. It is a challenge, but so much growth comes from it.

This was the most incredible experience I have ever had. Going into college with around-the-world-knowledge is something that will set you apart from other students academically, socially and spiritually. There real world experience that you gain in this program can be compared to nothing. Each and every day brings a new unique experience that you could not get doing anything else.