Program Reviews

The year was just so beautiful... nights stargazing on ashram rooftops in Nepal, Himalayan sunrise treks, delicious food EVERWHERE, misty mornings at the maacama campus in California...

Even deeper than that, for me, was softening into who I am as a human being. Learning that I'm not the only one who feels broken a lot of the times, learning to feel this deep sensation in my bones that I'm not alone in the universe - that I have friends all around me. The year itself was such a beautiful (and super FUN) exploration of not only the physical world, but my own heart.

The entire program itself was a springboard - it seems to have shifted my life in irreversible ways. Now I'm so much more capable of deicing for myself who I want to be in the world, how I want to relate to others, and what incredible life I want to build for myself. The power is in my hands, and LEAPYEAR gave it to me.

I think this trip is really amazing. The people on it are committed to having a good conversation and I got a good feeling for many different activities and places. The trip leaders are dedicated to teaching you how to travel respectfully and competently. I had two favorite parts of the trip. First the week we spent in Honduras scuba diving!! This portion was so incredible and we got to dive at night which was such an unforgettable experience. Second the week we spent at this spiritual center on a huge lake in Guatemala. I would wake up each morning and go for a swim and then we would spend the day exploring the town, doing yoga and meditating. All of the different stops on the trip taught me something new and I gained so much valuable safe traveling experiences.

I could not possibly express all that this organization is in a few words but I will do my best. For my Leap Year I did group travel to Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras for the first semester and for the second I traveled to Bolivia and Peru on my own. This program is everything I could have hoped for and then some. In group travel I lived and learned with 12 of the most incredible people, of which all are introspective and extreamly supportive of everyone around them. I did and saw some truly remarkable things, Scuba diving in Honduras, working on a permaculture farm in Nicaragua, hiking through the active volcanoes in Guatemala. The amount of live experiences I gained are immense. Furthermore on my second semester I went to La Paz Bolivia in order to keep up my Spanish. Although I was alone I had an incredible safety net of people that gave me the confidence to push my comfort zone knowing I had support if I needed it. I learned more in a year than I could ever have known and I would suggest this program to anyone and everyone who is even remotely interested.

Studying abroad with this program was an eye-opening experience. I stayed at the College of Language and Culture Studies in Taktse, in the center of Bhutan. One of the best parts was the ability to travel back to Thimphu, the capital city for an independent research project in LGBT advocacy. Taktse feels a little remote, but I found that I always kept busy and had fun exploring the mountain, participating in community soccer tournaments, and meeting new friends. The in country instructor with the program is one-of-a-king. Her name is Anne Parker and she is a wealth of knowledge about the country and traveling the world in general. I made life long friends both within the tight-knit community of the program as well as within the college.

I love this program!! I had such an amazing experience. I did everything from trekking through the mountains, scuba diving, visiting Machu Picchu, and building a school to learning Spanish, meditating, eating incredible food and making life long friends. I learned so much about the world and about myself. Gap years are an awesome alternative to going straight to college and I recommend that everyone do them. Leapnow is especially great because you can get college credit for the year as well. This program really changed my life and I am so grateful for it!

I've known for a long time that I both wanted to study abroad and to visit Bhutan (and the breathtaking Himalayas), so when I saw Naropa's program last fall, I immediately decided to embark on this journey, truly the journey of a lifetime. Studying abroad in Bhutan honestly was one of the scariest and most worthwhile things I have ever done. I would be lying if I said it was all easy - there were a lot of challenges to overcome concerning culture shock, homesickness, and learning how to be in intercultural relationships. However the challenges came hand in hand with amazement and of course immense growth. Bhutan has this incredible timelessness and beautiful deep sense of community that I feel so grateful to have been a part of. By the end of the trip, I didn't want to leave and especially part with friends who literally took me into their communal family with open arms and wide grins. This program comes with a lot of space, an escape from the stresses of fast paced western life that comes with few pauses, which I loved. Naropa's accompanying faculty member, Anne Parker, helped make the trip even more worthwhile with her expertise in intercultural communication and her support in all realms. Bhutan is a really beautiful country, culturally, environmentally, and socially, and I highly recommend looking more into this program if you're at all interested. It's an experience I cherish.

If you are looking for an extremely unique opportunity to grow this is it. Subtle hints of the British school system, patriarchy and sexism, and still the Bhutanese will still somehow find a way to steal your heart. The internet is slow, when it works. The water sometimes goes off for days at a time, and there is never any hot water. I only saw a few televisions the entire trip. There was a nunnery above my hostile that made for a beautiful morning hike. The weather was warm on my campus and the students were incredibly welcoming. Studying GNH within the country gave me the ability to see both the benefits and the flaws to this wonderful concepts. Coming from a first world country, the challenges of a third world country opened my eyes to my immense privilege and wealth. This journey shook me to my core and warmed my heart. Being surrounded by Buddhism pointed out the holes in my belief system and challenged me to fill them. I couldn't have done this without the tremendous support of the Naropa community and the wonderful Bhutanese friends I made.

Every single day I think about my LEAP year experience, and when I do I am filled with gratitude. In LEAP every day is a unique way to grow in a way I lack the space to describe. Every day is wide awake

Every day on the land in Maacama during the retreats, or out in group travel in India and Nepal, or on my solo internship in Seville, Spain...every day was physically and actively different and yet the constant was a feeling of support, a passion from the staff and group leaders, love of travel and life in general, openness, patience, willingness and wisdom. Everyone brought themselves, their excitement, humor, creativity, genius(!) to the stage and it was an incredible time. Either sitting and writing a paper in India, or California, I felt proud to turn something in because I knew it was going to people who were reading it out of my own learning experience, not our of a systematic and literal grading...it was out of what did I do, what did I learn from it, who am I now? Every day is full of wonder, newness and a total sense of "holy cow, what I am doing is amazing!"

It's so easy to pull on the lines fed to us, getting caught in what the world expects, and so, so hard to go against the known and create our own paths. My time at LeapNow really supported me and challenged me to find my own way, to lead instead of only follow. Traveling in a group with 9 other students through Nepal and Northern India really challenged me to work within the group dynamic, yet still be responsible for myself. It showed me how little I know of this world, and of myself.

Leapyear is by no means easy, or a vacation. If it were, it wouldn't be worth the mention or the time. I really learned that there is no time to waste faking my way through this limited amount of time I have here. I've come to really appreciate being real with myself, my peers, and those I most care about. That means rocking the boat and going through the yucky parts, but it's so worth the connections and journeys that really matter.

Another great aspect of Leapyear is the comprehensive learning that takes place. It was through cooking and working the land with my peers that I learned about work ethic and the impact of hard, honest work (even when it's the last thing I want to do). Learning doesn't just take place in the classroom. Learning takes place by getting your hands messy and by having the courage to explore what you never knew was possible.

Living in close quarters with 30 other students gave me a lot to work with, in terms of interpersonal dynamics. It really challenged me to work through conflict and build trust.

There really is so much more...all I can say is it's absolutely worth it. You will get out of it as much as you put in. If you want a real, life changing opportunity to learn in a really deep and creative way, do Leapyear.