The gap year I didn't know I needed.

I am going to do my best to express my honest and most brief review. Bare with me if it gets a little long winded!

I grew up in the USA. I went through all 12 years of schooling in the US education system only to find that I needed something more. Life experience, was one thing that any school cannot teach you in a classroom.

In 2007 I attended the Warriors program for the full term and graduated with pride in my heart. The skills to tackle life outside of academics are essential, and for me Warriors showed me that I could train myself and thrive as an individual and take on the world without hesitation, without doubt, and yet, employ great discipline to my own benefit. The skills I needed were taught to me. And so much more.

Over the Warriors course I learned that, not only was I capable of just about anything I set my mind to, but that I could open my heart, and be true to myself to accomplish my own goals with tools I built myself. Through my own efforts, I could bring results.

I will admit, this course is not a vacation, it is not about perusing the exotic wilderness and urban sprawl that southern africa has to offer, at leisure.

This course is not a walk in the park, it is not for the faint of heart. At times I was pushed to the very limit of my being, but through the teachings given, I was prepared to face anything thrown at me. I was taught to overcome any hardship offered.

Warriors also gave me many of my fondest memories. To this day I look back at the friends I made, the experiences I had and the fulfillment that comes with knowing I accomplished more in seven months than I ever did in all my years in school and even now, everyday I think back to what I learned to use it in my life. I still use the tools given to me to reach out and take life by the horns and make my own.

I cannot recommend Warriors enough for anyone that is willing to give their all, to commit to changing their lives for the better, to bringing out the best qualities within themselves. This is not summer camp, it's not boarding school, it's not a retreat or cruise or any of that. It is not for the lazy, apathetic, or entitled. It is for anyone who is ready to find out what they are made of. It is a place where one may come, and with an open heart, learn how to find out who they are, what strengths and weaknesses they carry, and how to employ that into life and all its challenges. To accept and move with the flow of things. To put your worries and anger and other negative energies into something productive, useful, or helpful and make something out of life.

Warriors does more than teach. It enabled me to learn and grow in ways I never considered. It pushed me to the limits and back again. I experienced the full spectrum of life in a microcosm of itself and came out the otherside better prepared for whatever future might come.

Tim Phillips
Warrior - 07