KIVU Gap Year

Every Fall, students in our Global Gap Year go on a weekend retreat away from the city.  It is a weekend full of storytelling.  We walk through a booklet developed by Dave Meserve titled, '7 Stories'.  This retreat tends to be a highlight for each of our students as they learn more about themselves and their fellow gap students.  In this podcast, Dave talks with Luke about how he developed this impactful spiritual autobiography, what it consists of, and how it impacts those who go through it.

If you'd like more information about Dave and his non-profit, Urban Skye, you can check out his website, http://www.urbanskye.org/. 

You can also contact him via email, [email protected].

Often times we are asked, "Why take a gap year?  Doesn't that just add years to finishing university?"

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but the current research shows that on average, today's university students take 5-6 years to finish their undergraduate work.  But when compared to Gap Year Students who take 3-4 years, the message couldn't be louder. Check out these articles to examine the research for yourself!

Statistics on gap year students

https://americangap.org/assets/2015%20NAS%20Report.pdf

Statistics on the average undergraduate

https://nscnews.org/the-new-reality-for-college-students-earning-a-bachelors-degree-takes-5-to-6-years-and-students-attend-multiple-institutions/

This episode is a fun introduction to life in Latin America with Director Josh Benjamin.  He shares with us about learning the language, food, and culture as a student in Santiago, Chile.  You can live in Latin America with our Global and Gap Semester programs in the Fall or Spring Semester!  

For more information, check us out at the KIVU Gap Semester or KIVU Global Gap Year.

You can contact Josh Benjamin at [email protected] if you'd like to ask him more questions about life in Latin America in the KIVU Gap Year!

Special music by Chichí Peralta Título, "Me Enamoré" and Grupo La Noche, "Mal Amor".

The Enneagram is one of several tools we use in the KIVU Gap Year to help students increase in faith ownership and emotional intelligence.  However, in the past few years it has become very popularized in the United States.  With that popularity, there are many misunderstandings that come with interacting with this transformational tool.

Meet Millie Cline, a class instructor and spiritual director,  who carefully walks students through this tool from a spiritual lens.  She is a favorite amongst our students each year in the way she guides each individual towards a better understanding of themselves and God.  Tune in as she explains the Enneagram and dispels some of the myths and misunderstandings surrounding its usefulness in our daily lives.  

If you'd like to reach out to Millie to learn more about Spiritual Direction, you can contact her at [email protected]

How do young people intentionally transition from adolescence to young adulthood?  It seems like our culture does not offer much guidance into how we grow and mature into healthy adults.   We graduate from high school and somehow hope to stumble into adult life by (A) completing college, (B) getting a full time job, (C) getting married, (D) having kids.  It's as though we stand at the crossing of a raging river and are left to our own devices as to how we navigate to the other side.

This podcast takes you into KIVU's '6 Stepping Stones' of growth towards young adulthood.  Luke Parrott gives an overview of these critical areas of development that KIVU spends time developing over the course of the program.

 

Those 6 areas are:

-Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

-Cultural Competence (CQ)

-Faith Ownership & Integration

-Family & Belonging

-Passion & Calling

-Justice & Compassion

We believe these stepping stones give students a route across the river stream to enter young adulthood and grow towards who they were made to be.

What if a gap year actually had the added benefit of changing the neuro pathways in your brain?

That's right.  New science is coming out showing that extensive travel and experience can literally change the way your synapses are connected. Join Andy and Luke today as they discuss the ways cross-cultural immersion may change the development of the brain.

Here are some links to articles referenced in this week's show:

The Atlantic, "For a more creative brain, travel"

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/03/for-a-more-creative-brain-travel/388135/

The Guardian, "Travel broadens the mind but can it alter the brain?"

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jan/18/travel-broadens-the-mind-but-can-it-alter-the-brain

The neuroscience of leadership

https://www.strategy-business.com/article/06207?gko=6da0a

Vocare is a word we use at KIVU to describe where purpose and passion converge in our lives.  In this interview, Luke Parrott talks with Greg Fuchs about how the Denver program intentionally develops young adults in their passion and calling.

Learn how our program helps students identify their passions, avoid burnout, and open up space and time to be reflective leaders.

This week's podcast features Josh Benjamin, our South America Director at KIVU Gap Year!  He walks us through the power of story in students lives and ways that we help them grow into a more healthy version of themselves.

In this week's podcast, Andy Braner tries to answer the top three questions we get here at the KIVU Gap Year from Parents:

1. How is there such diversity among Gap Year costs?

2. Is a Gap Year Safe?

3. Will my student go back to college after returning from a gap year?

Listen in on some important answers here on the podcast.

One of the most interesting effects of taking a gap year is what is referred to as Emotional Intelligence or EQ.  So why would you go to take a Gap Year to work on Emotional Intelligence? Listen here to Luke Parrott and Andy Braner talk about Emotional Intelligence on our new KIVU Gap Year Podcast. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes so you won't miss one episode.