Next fall, William Becker ’26, Katherine Ellis ’26, and Carla Oudin ’26 will begin their freshman years in college. This fall, however, they embark on individual gap years, focusing on personal growth, exploration, and cultural immersion
Katherine Ellis:
Ellis chose to explore her interests in baking at Ballymaloe Cookery School and Organic Farm in Ireland. At Hotchkiss, Ellis was involved with The Baking Club, baking for many bake sales in her time. She said, “I’m excited to develop my skills while learning more about the relationship between food and sustainability. One of the greatest joys so far has been meeting amazing people from all around the world who share my passion for cooking.”
In January, Ellis plans on doing community service work. She said, “I’ll return to Tanzania to continue my involvement with The Girls Foundation of Tanzania, an organization I’ve worked with during previous summers.”
Finally, to conclude her year, she will spend her spring in Spain. She said, “In the spring, I’ll head to Madrid, Spain, for a language immersion program with the goal of improving my Spanish before college.”
Describing how she hopes to use her gap year, Ellis said, “My gap year is an opportunity to explore a few of my longstanding interests more deeply while stepping outside my comfort zone and learning from new environments.” Moreover, she said, “I hope this year allows me to become more independent and explore interests beyond the traditional classroom.”
William Becker:
Becker is spending his fall in Richmond, Virginia, working under the mayor Daniel Avula. He said, “My hope for the first part of my project is to get a better sense for the world of politics, and how changes in the political realm can affect the lives of everyday people, as well as seeing the work that goes into our surrounding environments.”
Describing his inspirations, Becker said, “I was inspired to do this part of my project because I’ve always had a passion for politics and for using politics as a tool, to make change, positive change in people’s lives.”
The second part of Becker’s gap year is centered in Europe. He said, “I was inspired by this from my time in Spanish classes at Hotchkiss. I hope that my time in Spain will allow me to get immersed in the culture and language and come back feeling more comfortable speaking Spanish outside of an academic context.”
The final aspect of Becker’s trip involves traveling solo. He said, “It will give me a sense of independence and control over my own life, where I get to explore places, do things that are really interesting to me, and let that be really self-motivated.”
Becker, reflecting on the year, said, “Overall, I hope to get a better sense of my purpose and interests and what they mean in the practical world before college.”
Carla Oudin:
A gap year has always been in the picture for Oudin. She said, “Growing up, my parents always pushed the idea of taking a gap year, and as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized how amazing of an opportunity it is.”
Oudin finds similar support in Duke’s travel program. She said, “The Duke Gap Year Program…has allowed me to fund my travels and join a community of other students on similar journeys,” said Oudin. “Having that support made it easier to take the leap.”
Oudin chose to spend her gap year travelling across the world herself. She said, “I’m doing somewhat of a ‘world tour’ with some highlights being harvesting in a vineyard in the south of France, hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro, doing research on sea turtles on a remote island in the Seychelles, coral reef conservation work in Indonesia, and meeting up with friends to backpack across Southeast Asia.”
Oudin hopes to grow from these solo-travelling experiences while learning about different cultures. She said, “my goal is to travel and explore countries I’ve never been to before as well as volunteer along the way to immerse myself in the communities I’m visiting.”
At the end of the year, she is excited to return to an academic setting new and refreshed. She said “I hope to continue learning and growing as a person without getting burned out so I can be ready to go back to school with clearer goals and be excited for my studies.”