Program Reviews

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.

The Kivu Gap Year was by far one of the best experiences of my entire life. My internship in Denver taught me a lot about the struggles of people in first world countries that i wasn't really aware of, and I am happy still work with my organization I interned with even though it's been three years. Traveling abroad was incredible. It definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone, but in a good way. I was able to learn things about myself that i know i would have never learned without this program. Gap Year has helped me become more driven in school, and the experiences I had during Gap Year have benefited me a lot during college. This program is amazing!

Well folks, you've heard it all from some pretty awesome alumni. The Kivu Gap Year program is specifically tailored to young adults that are in the process of finding out where they belong in a global community through exploring the inner-workings of themselves. And they truly do incredible job at it.

But underneath it at all, what really makes this program so wonderful is the leadership. Hands down. Luke Parrott is one of the most insightful men I've ever known and he is in a constant process of putting this program under the lens of his own criticism so that he can sharpen it to be the most comprehensive year any kid at this age can experience. Moreover, Luke, Andy and Jamie Jo Braner (the founders and directors of Kivu), along with the field staff in Denver, Rwanda, and the Philippines do an amazing job at offering their unwavering support to the students in whatever personal or community related issues that may arise.

In High School I wanted to go live in the mountains, travel around, grow the biggest beard any man could imagine, and climb rocks for the rest of my life. I was a terrible student because I thought I wasn't capable of doing anything else. The staff of Kivu Gap Year staff helped me sort through some of the deeper issues inside my own life that were producing this lie, and the experience I was getting both at my internship in Denver, and abroad put these issues in a vocational and global context in a way that allowed me to experience what I am truly capable of and what I'm deeply passionate about. The result was ambition, along with the right questions to ask to sharpen this ambition.

I graduated from the Kivu Gap Year over a year ago and it is still something that I think about and learn from every day. It completely changed the way I look at the world and my life, from the way I interact with people to the way I view my education. I learned more about myself than I would have ever known, just by living in cultures that seemed so completely opposite from what I was comfortable with. I became okay with being uncomfortable, which I now realize is one of the best places to be. This program truly is a life-changing experience.

This program gives you the space to allow yourself to be transformed. It challenges you and makes you examine yourself (your values, beliefs, ideas etc) The Kivu Gap Year takes you out of your comfort zone. It's in that uncomfortable place that the most growth happens. I went from my comfortable suburban bubble, to the inner-city of Denver, and lastly to third world countries. I was stripped of everything I once knew, and in that I found that God transformed me. I got to live life with people in a small village in Rwanda, the slums of the Philippines and everywhere in between. It was through these people that I began to see the world differently. A lot of growth happened in just one year, but the Gap Year is simply a stepping stone. It is an important part of my story and something I am continually learning from. My college experience is radically different because I see everything through a more grounded, global lens. All in all, you're gaining life experience through the various internships around the world. The Kivu Gap Year will wreck you in a beautiful way.

For me, the Gap year was an incredible eye opening experience. I learned alot about myself, why I work the way I do, and How to better myself. I learned to live with total strangers that soon became family! Although the Gap year did not actually provide an experience for me to do what my passion is (work with animals) I am so thankful for it because it helped me focus on my life, and in a way, it led me to my ultimate conclusion that my passion is Animals, by letting me try so many other options! It is a great program with great people and I would highly encourage you to try it!

As a student on the 1st ever Kivu Gap Year, I am to-this-day amazed with our adventure. When I started traveling in September of 2010, I thought my purpose was to go out and “change the world”, to make a difference in someone’s life, but what I came to find after 8 months of traveling was that my purpose was to let my experience change me from the inside out. The Kivu Gap Year was a exploration of the self through integration into unknown communities in our global society. Throughout my journey, I learned things about myself that I never knew existed and I feel are completely applicable in my everyday life. I uknowingly prepared myself, though this program, for the life that was ahead of me.