I have seen firsthand that Jay Gosselin's Discover Year truly manages to transform any motivated and open-minded person into a more confident, charismatic, and self-aware individual. This purposeful gap-year program enables students from any background to build upon areas in their lives that interest THEM. With the ultimate goal of self-actualization, Discover Year provides students with a resourceful and supportive community, through which workshops help participants practice their job search, time management, communication, and planning skills. With designated time for work, travel, and volunteer experience, it finds itself in the upper echelon of gap-year programs due to its unique and innovative model.
In turn, Discover Year truly changed me for the better. After having spent a year comprised of learning about the working world, travelling to Vietnam and Japan, and co-managing a milk bag mattress sustainability project with my peers, I found myself to have gained invaluable work experience, global perspective, and real confidence. These things, as well as making friends and valuable connections within the DY community, have helped me to start my way on a path towards a purposeful future.
If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?
If I could re-take my Discover Year, I would look to make more of the valuable connections that are at one's disposal when immersed in the program. That means trying to lead in-depth conversations with all mentors and panelists, in order to build stronger relationships and in order to gain further in-depth information regarding the world of careers. I would have tried to find more advanced jobs, and would have traveled to Senegal during the year with Mother and Sister. I don't regret anything that I did through Discover Year, and would just encourage people to make the most out of it.