I chose this program because I had been following this group of individuals (Valhalla Movement) online for 4 years and jumped at the opportunity to come and work with them. With the focus on social entrepreneurship, I knew they could help me achieve financial freedom while creating a more sustainable world.
Alumni Spotlight: Garrett Adkins
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Garrett is a social marketer, working with businesses making a positive impact on the world and spreading their story across the web. In his free time you can find him traveling, reading, or attempting to optimize his life and overall well-being.
Why did you choose this program?
What did your program provider (or university) assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?
Besides travel back and forth, this program provided all of my living needs and more. We stayed in an incredible apartment, ate amazing food, and explored the surrounding area frequently.
What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?
Make the most of your time when doing this program. If you invest money into something, be prepared to work and achieve your goals. This program improved my network (dramatically), kept me accountable to my goals, and taught me some incredibly valuable skills.
You still need to push yourself to learn from these people and put it into action. It is up to you to make the most of your time, as is true with anything in life.
What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?
We would often wake up to yoga and breakfast. By this time we would start working on individual projects, learn more about sustainability, or explore the surrounding area. It was a great mixture of education, entertainment, and improving our own personal journey.
Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?
My fear was in the idea of not getting my money's worth. It is an investment to do a program like this but you have to take risks to get rewards.
The accommodations alone were worth what I spent, let alone the fact that I learned so much and currently make my income from the connections and steps I took while there.
My recommendation is to follow your gut and take those risks. I did, and I would do it again if I had to.
Who is best suited for this program?
This program is for anyone who wants to make a "career" or life out of bettering the world (social entrepreneurship). This group specializes in permaculture, sustainability, and social business but they also are connected to organizations around the world and will put you in touch with those that will most benefit you. The network connections alone is worth so much.