Luke Parrott

Filling a Gap In the Education System

A recent Harvard Research study revealed that MBA programs are on the decline due to a gap in knowing versus doing.  Recruiters are skeptical of what the program produces.  A business education system that has emphasized analytical expertise along with an understanding of models and statistics has also left the student lacking in the following arenas:

1.  Self Awareness--"The more an MBA understands his or her impact on others and vice-versa, the more effective he or she will be."

2.  Practical Skills--"how to run a meeting, make a presentation, and give performance feedback."

3.  Mobilization--"MBAs need to understand how to work "through" people, how to motivate and inspire."

4.  Cultural Intelligence--Students are not developing a global mindset in the increasingly globalized marketplace.

What if it is not the MBA programs that have failed here but the failure of providing such an avenue of developing these skill sets BEFORE arriving in such a graduate program?

I believe these 4 issues demonstrate how knowledge WITHOUT real life experience leads to a stale outcome.  You can not expect someone to develop any of these qualities without getting out of their comfort zone (and out of their suburb, college campus, even country!) and wrestling in a context that will flex these much needed social muscles.

Too many students are blowing their way through higher education without ever tasting life outside the classroom.  They enter their graduate work without really knowing who they are as a person and what the world around them really looks like.  This is the reason we see a growing need for a Gap Year experience.

This September we will be taking our first group of KIVU Gap Year students on a "Vocational Discovery in a Global Community".  In urban America, a developing African nation, and the Philippine Islands, students will rub shoulders with the margins of society as they discover a world far outside of what is familiar.  They will wrestle with their own selves as they see a world that is not America. 

The internships will sharpen their self-awareness. 

The global travel and cultural immersion will enable them to acquire cultural intelligence. 

They will gain very practical social skills as they learn how to better interact and lead others. 

They will learn how organizations are mobilizing those around them to make a better world.  

As they flex these muscles, they will then head to the University in order to balance that experience with the knowledge and instruction a college classroom can provided.  All this achieved prior to entering their undergraduate work.  

Perhaps MBA programs will not produce a more balanced student until the students entering the program have already tasted enough bumps and bruises to develop the qualities so evidently lacking. 

Finding the Right Destination for your Gap Year

United States or overseas?  Hot or cold climate?  Who are my best contacts?  What organization will accept a gap student?  Will that host organization maximize the gap student experience?  Will they have good guidance and oversight?  Do they believe in what is trying to be accomplished in the gap year experience?  Will the gap student be an asset or liability to the people in that organization?  Will they take this student under their wing?

These are all the questions I began to ask as we prepared our KIVU Gap Year Program.  The benefit of joining a program is that these questions have already been navigated for you.  In fact, the chosen KIVU destinations are with host organizations we have had a long history.  Even then, it has taken nearly 5 months to plan, prepare, discuss, and budget all the details.

Our Denver relationship is relatively new; however, for the past 3 years I have been living in Denver and taken high school students to volunteer with one of the ministries Gap Year students will be able to internship at.  Mile High Ministries is excited to welcome us into their incredible ministry to the urban poor.

In Rwanda, our relationship is deep and extensive.  Last year, we took 30 students all over the country for a week long spring break mission trip.  (Click here to see the Video Journal of this experience.)  We have connections to John Rucyahana, former bishop of Rwanda in Musanze.  In fact, Andy and I were invited to join him and 2,000 Rwandan students last August for a youth conference.  We are connected to the current bishop, Laurent Mbanda as he housed our girls team last spring.  Andy and Jamie Jo have adopted 2 kids from Rwanda and have stayed with the US Ambassador while working on adoption papers in the capital, Kigali.  And, we love working with Jonathan and Tim who are spearheading the organization of Kids Across Africa Camps Rwanda.

In the Philippines, we are preparing to embark on a 9 day trip, March 13-21st next week as we take 60 students and families with us to work with International Care Ministries.  Follow this blog as I record a daily video journal and let you see first hand what we are doing there.  The Braner's have been doing this trip for the last 4 years and are excited to open the door for mission trips this spring and gap year students next spring.  David Sutherland, chairman of the Board and a Managing Director with Morgan Stanley, and is a long time Camp KIVU friend as he has sent his kids to our camp.  We are blessed to be a part of his work in southeast Asia.

In all of these areas, we are partnering with organizations that believe in our Gap Year students.  They believe in our program and values.  And they are excited to bring our students to come alongside them and serve.  They also have host staff who are excellent at understanding the youth culture today.  They are dedicated followers of Jesus and do not shy away from speaking words of encouragement and wisdom to students that come to their ministries.

We believe these are the most important components to finding the right destination for your gap year experience:

-partners who believe in you

-hosts who want to participate in developing the gap year student

-hosts who feel you will have a positive impact on their organization/ministry

-partners who have the resources and are familiar with hosting Americans

Here is a quick glance at the KIVU Gap Year Destinations:

   
 
 

What Kind of Gap Year Program Should I Choose?

It’s one thing to decide the gap year is right for you, but it’s another thing to decide what that experience will look like.

I have talked with many students and parents as they process their gap year ideas.  There are so many options out there.  It can be overwhelming.  From Americorps to YWAM.  From personal connections to full fledged 12 month programs.  The options are endless.

One thing I love about the KIVU Gap Year is the application.  It is designed not just to find the right students but to allow them to think through their values and expectations.  Click here to see.Download XXXXX KIVU GAP Year Application-P1

  You have to figure out what you value before you can choose or design your program.  When you figure out those values, it will narrow your options quickly.  Here are our values:

 

Our values have guided us to put together the following program.  We send students into unfamiliar settings in order to discover.  We  send them into the margins of society to let their heart be broken.  We send them outside this country to gain a global worldview that the world is not America.  We expose them to a variety of internships to stir their heart towards a future vocation.  We send them in a group so they can wrestle with their own identity in community.  We have them live together so they are forced to be authentic.  We do all this to stretch them in their faith so they can see that God wants to use them for a specific purpose. 

You can read more about our Vision on our website.

But the advice I want to extend to all prospective Gap Year students and their parents is to start with values.  Perhaps a few questions will help you move further down the road.

What do you want to accomplish in your gap year?

If money were not a hindrance, how would you design your gap year?

Do you want to stay in the United States?  Do you want to go abroad?

Do you want to travel with a group or are you willing to go somewhere by yourself?

Why are you considering the gap year?

What do you think will be the biggest challenge for you during your gap year?

What do you think your career aspirations are following your gap year experience?

Why KIVU is Launching a Gap Year

 

At KIVU, we have the pleasure of working with the adolescent world. 

Our youngest campers are 13 years old having just entered the teenage years.  Our oldest campers are 18 and ready to spread their wings and head to college. 

Our youngest counselors are 19 and have just completed their first year of college and all its challenges.  Our oldest counselors are in their mid to late 20's trying to navigate the post-college life out on their own.

Studies indicate that the adolescent period now extends from age 12/13 to nearly 30 years of age!  It takes nearly 15 years now to make the leap from childhood to adulthood.  And students are desperately struggling to find themselves in this process.

Who am I?  What are my passions?  Do I matter?  What is my purpose in life?  How can I make my life count?  What is my calling?  What has God created me to do? 

The questions are mounting and often times overwhelming.

Students are rushing through life from middle school to college graduation without slowing down to do a little self reflection and discovery.  They are running off to college with no clue what to pursue academically.  They are coming out of college with a degree in hand and the same disillusionment about what to do.  (Yes, even though they have a degree in a specialized field).  They have seen the world only inside a classroom.  They understand the world only as it relates to the textbook.  And they begin to struggle with taking their knowledge into the "real world".

We believe students need space.  They need time.  They need a break in the fast pace of life.  They need rest from the 6am to 10pm commitments.  They need a gap by the time they reach high school graduation.  Here are some issues we see develop in this stage of life.

*Students are burned out academically from the demands of their high school years.

*Students desire to see more of the world around them in order to see how their future profession contributes to the global community in which we now live.

*Students often arrive to the university undecided on their Major and need an extra year of self-discovery in order to better access where they desire to focus their studies as an undergraduate.

*Students spend too much wasted time and tuition changing majors early on as an undergraduate.

*Students have not experienced enough bumps and bruises in life in order to understand who they are and be self-aware of their unique giftedness.

*Students need a Gap Year experience in order to better integrate and contextualize their classroom studies with the experience, maturation, and affirmation of their passions.

And so we are launching the KIVU Gap Year Program this Fall.  We want to take students on a journey of discovery, of faith, of community, of authenticity, of vocation, and global worldview.

In the end our mission is to prepare college-bound high school graduates for success in higher education through domestic and international learning adventures that help them clarify their faith, discover their passions, focus their career goals, in a global context. 

That's why we are doing the KIVU Gap Year

Announcing the KIVU Gap Year Program, 2010-2011

  

It's finally here!  The much anticipated KIVU Gap Year Program has been released in detail on our website at www.campkivu.com under the 'destinations' tab.  Along with the KIVU Philippines trip we are going on this March, the Gap Year is the other new edition to KIVU for the 2010 year.

Students will leave the KIVU Gap Year with college credit, a deeper faith, a more comprehensive worldview and a vision for what they want to do in life.  By connecting vocational opportunities with appropriate choices of college majors in real-world environments both in the United States and abroad, students enter college with a broad understanding of their opportunities, a deep understanding of themselves and clear goals for the future.

Check out the program and see what you think!

Download 15002 KIVU GAP Year Flyer 11x17-P5.pdf (799.1

Gap Year Program for KIVU

The inquiries keep building!  I get emails, phone calls, and facebook messages every week from prospective students and parents.  I just wanted to let you know that we are still diligently putting together the program to be launched in the Fall of this year.

In the upcoming weeks we will be ready to release the program and application process.  Stay tuned!  It is coming your way soon!

Exploring the KIVU Gap Year

 

At the turn of the new year we are preparing to announce our KIVU Gap Year Program to begin in Fall of 2010.  (Stay tuned as this will consist of the program details, cost, and initial application process)

There are countless reasons for KIVU to offer a Gap Year.  We see so many 'holes' in this generation of students that need to be filled.  We see so many 'gaps' in our world that need to be bridged.  The purpose of the KIVU Gap Year is to fill those holes, to bridge those gaps. 

What are the 'gaps' that we see?

There is a gap between students pursuing their faith and their profession.  They don't realize that they can do the work of God with WHATEVER skill, passion, and career they choose. 

There is a gap between what students are learning in the classroom and how it applies to their real world experiences.

There is a gap between what students DO in college and who they want to BE in college.

There is a gap in the students self awareness of what he/she is truly passionate, skilled, and gifted in. 

There is a gap between the rich and the poor.  Students need to see the poor at eye level before they go to the university to work on how to tackle these problems.

There is a gap between the pains and problems in this world and how the student perceives them from afar.

There is a gap in our individualistic society where students have not lived in a community that will genuinely speak into their lives and show them their true self.

There is a gap between America and the rest of the world.  Students need to see how the world operates outside of suburban America to understand how they can serve those in need on a global level.

There is a gap in self understanding.  Students have not tasted enough bumps and bruises in life to discover who they really are.

There is a gap between the student and God.  He/she does not realize that God has uniquely designed them to accomplish something beautiful in this broken world.

The KIVU Gap Year is designed to bridge these gaps.  To begin to fill these holes.  We speak to students on the college campus, in the high school classroom, at the local youth group, and in the crowded student union center.  We work every summer with a team of over 120 college students and see 1,000 campers come through.  And the Gap Year is a desperate need to bridge the Gap from high school to college.

Every student I have personally interviewed that has gone on a gap year experience continually impresses me with their self-awareness, maturity, direction, focus of studies, motivation, and passion.  We are so excited to afford students a chance to bridge the gap by exploring the KIVU Gap Year.

Kivu Gap Year---a module in Rwanda

The real Gap Year program will not be for the faint of heart. There are some cool opportunities to plug into life right here in Rwanda on a more long term basis (2-3 months).  That is if you are ready to give up some American comforts…

What do you think about giving up these American luxuries?

1.    No strong water pressure in your shower.  (and no hot water for your shower every day)
2.    Limited electricity
3.    Public transportation on small and crowded buses
4.    Limited (and slow) internet connections
5.    No constant text messaging back home
6.    No dryer for your laundry
7.    Your night ends when the sun sets (7pm) and begins when the sun rises (6am)
8.    A much slower paced life where things are accomplished quite inefficiently.
9.    Walking everywhere you go
10.    Boil your water and let it cool before drinking

Some other interesting challenges will be captured in cross cultural interactions.  Our Gap Year students will be able to connect with local schools and teach English classes, work in a medical clinic, and several other interesting endeavors fitting to our students passions and the requests from the local community.  But there is a real challenge in dealing with what I call the “Muzungu Mentality”. 

Everywhere we go, it seems like we are the only white people on the road.  While Rwandans have seen white folk (and there are several here), there is a stigma attached to us.  That we are wealthy.  That we have an easy handout.  That we know everything.  That we will step into positions of power.

I hear “Muzungu! Muzungu!” on the road all the time.  And sometimes the kids come running to stare you down or if they are bold enough to offer out their hands expecting something in return.  There will be a challenge in working/serving alongside these people.  They will expect and even initiate that the Muzungu take the lead in every situation.  While this boosts our own ego, it also deflates theirs in the process.  There is a tendency for us to adopt a celebrity status attitude because the people will offer that platform.  But that is not the goal of our time here. 

Our goal is not to offer a handout to these people.  Not to dominate with our own system of thought.  Not to impose our Western worldview.  Not to inform them of how much we think we know.

Our goal is to serve.  To give.  To humble ourselves and not think of ourselves more highly then we ought.  To listen to the people.  To not focus on their needs as much as what they have to offer.  Where we can see their giftedness and skills shine. Where we can mutually come together and accomplish something beautiful amidst brokenness.  That will be the task for our students to accomplish as they take on their respective projects here in Musanze.

Is it safe in Rwanda?  Yes.  And our connections here are very strong from the ambassador to Rwanda at the Embassy to the leading Archbishop of Rwanda here in Musanze.  We know who to trust and we have several locals as well as Westerners who live here and know the area well.  In addition, the 15-20 students that we take will always travel in groups and live together at a central location.

Will it challenge our students?  Yes!  This is a great place to offer our students a place to grow up as young adults as well as in what they are passionate about doing with their life.  It will truly stretch our students as they cope with the realities of life away from the comforts of home. 

As we continue to develop the 2010 Gap Year Program, we are considering setting up a 3 month module in Rwanda from October to mid December.  Much more pieces to put together once I arrive home to the States, but the outlook is great here in Musanze, Rwanda for Gap Year students.

What is the Kivu Gap Year?

I've heard this question asked several times lately.  Much of my work with Camp Kivu this fall and spring is dedicated to piecing together the Kivu Gap Year Program.  In fact, it is why I have been here in Rwanda for the past week.

Australians call it a "walkabout".  Rwandans call it a "Dead Year".  Many European students do it.  Princeton just adopted a program for their students that they call a "bridge year".  A Gap Year is when students choose to defer their enrollment into their freshman year of college and go out and see the world before entering the university. 

We are designing a program where parents can allow their high school graduates to join Kivu for 2 semesters in the fall and spring and travel the world for multiple purposes.  To help them realize the global village in which they live.  To help them further develop and refine their passions before entering college.  To help them see how their future profession can be used for the Kingdom of God.  To help them go into school with a refined vision for what they desire to study, a renewed focus to perform well in the classroom, and a long term mindset of how their major in college fits into their future profession.  All of this, of course, wrapped up in an understanding of how they can be a follower of Jesus who changes the world for the better in their field of expertise.

It's about mingling your faith with your profession.  It's about bringing to life who God created you to be.  It's about living with a small community of American students abroad.  It's about mingling with a new culture.  It's about allowing God to show you how he can use you for his Kingdom.  And how he wants to do that with the very passions he has given you.

So we are developing the program to launch next Fall 2010.  On this blog, I am brainstorming out loud so that you can be a part of the conversation and the creation of this new Kivu program.  In March, I will also be working on a module out in southeast Asia (Hong Kong and the Philippines). 

So please feel free to comment and add your input as we develop a program that fits the needs and desires of the students and parents who want to pursue a Gap Year.

You can comment right here on the blog or email me (luke@campkivu.com), facebook message, or call me 417-848-3243.  We also have a Kivu Gap Year group on the www.campkivu.com site.  Just join the group there for conversation as well.