Minding the Gap Exploring the Gap Year Path

This past spring, I thought my post high school path was paved: Ivy League college. Liberal arts. Lots of argyle. The Mail had different ideas, delivering two small envelopes into my palms, indicating my path was not as I intended it to be. Two clearly marked paths were before me: one finely trimmed, well-trodden and labeled "back-up school," the other a compilation of bare patches nearly devoured by jungle and tagged "Gap Year." Thank Frost: I will take the road less traveled. Over the next fourteen months, I will work as an intern for internationally recognized companies in multiple fields of business across four continents and in at least seven countries. My ultimate goal is to get a better understanding of the answers to these two questions: Who am I? And what is it that I want for my academic and professional futures? While this inquiry is not unique, I will approach it via an international odyssey that will take me from Boulder, Colorado to Nepal, India, San Francisco, Ne w York, Shanghai, and Boston. I have an appetite for adventure that has led me to more than 25 unique countries with experiences ranging from a one-on-one meeting with a Living Buddha, a walk next to penguins in the southern-most city in the world, a position at the head of the parade for Saint Antonio in Amalfi, Italy, and appearances on German and Italian TV. At 16, I sipped yak-butter tea (ingredients: four tablespoons solid yak fat, one cup warm water) inside a smoke-infested, two-room home in rural China before flying to the other side of the world to dine with European deputies in Versailles. By 17, I was working personally with fashion designers on the Plaza Hotel account as an intern with the Seventh Art Group marketing firm in Manhattan. Now, at the ripe-old age of 18, I hope to discover the location and career that will help me to be the best that I can be. Perhaps this uncommon road is where I will discover what I truly love. My first exotic location will be Kathmandu , Nepal. My mission is to share my travels, challenges, and triumphs throughout my year so that students who may consider the path will be able to see, from a first hand perspective, what is in store.