High Desert Center - Fabulous GAP Semester Programs!

I write as a parent whose kid - an 18 year old taking a gap year before college - recently completed High Desert Center's Fall 2022 gap year program (13 weeks). In short, it is PHENOMENAL. I am 100% serious.

Let’s face it, many gap year programs have (sadly) become glorified summer camp, meaning they have structured, cookie-cutter activities and are for-profit money makers. That’s the opposite of what a good gap year program should provide, which is an environment that challenges young people to grow in independent, authentic ways. High Desert Center (HDC) actually does that.

It’s run exceptionally well by Dev and Marian, a husband and wife team who have been doing this for 20 years. They are hands-on. They are on-site. It is their passion and they run – not outsource – everything!

Dev has a PhD in ecology and is a university professor. They are the real deal! They live their environmental values. Every day. They created a beautiful setting in rural Colorado as their base camp (Paonia, Colorado), where the first half of the program is based, and then they hit the road for the second half, traveling south through the prettiest parts of America and camping out in unique, exotic places, including Indian reservations and state and national parks. They end the semester by hiking into Mexico and spending a couple weeks there living in a village with Mexican families.

Again, this is the real deal. If you want structured, cookie-cutter, summer camp fun, then don’t choose this. But if you want an experience that can actually change your life and give you real direction, tools, values, and confidence for a lifetime, then look into HDC. You won’t be disappointed.

My kid loved it – every part of it – and will head off to college better prepared with confidence. Embrace this place.

Bill Choslovsky
Chicago