Testimonials

"I learned more last year than I could ever express in a letter, more than I can express in words at all. I got a crucial break from the anxiety that was my education; I had time to notice what I was doing, seeing, learning day-by-day, and the places I went, the things I did, were worth noticing. That's all I wanted when I opted for a year away from school - a different way of life for a while, a little breathing space. But last year became far, far more than just a breathing space. To say it was confidence-building would be an understatement. Beyond home, I did things I'd only ever dreamed of. Away from my judgemental peers and concerned parents, I was able to experiment with everything from writing to butchering cattle. I wiggled out from beneath the standards of home and shot up towards the sky…The year started off as a relief and ended up invigorating."

"Kentucky provided me with a real education…I spent six weeks volunteering for…a health system centered in Hyden, Kentucky, and serving outlying areas through health clinics. My work included splitting wood, making rounds to clinics, teaching retarded adults and helping out in various departments of Mary Breckinridge Hospital in Hyden. New ideas about feminism, human relations and Appalachia changed my perceptions. I improved my listening skills, became more concerned with others, and opened my heart to the area. Just the difference in language between suburban New York and the mountains of Appalachia consumed me…Taking a year off finally allowed me to feel and grow. My outlook on life has changed and emotional energy fills my recent memories. I've felt enough pain and love in the last few months to make up for the dullness I often felt at Cornell."

"After spending part of her INTERIM year in France and Washington, Lisa came back to spend the holidays with us. The question that was on my mind was whether she would still be interested in going to college after the adventure of being out in the world. I took her to lunch and asked her that. Her reply was an exciting one. She said that she couldn't wait to get to college. There were so many courses that she wanted to take, because there were so many things she didn't know…It was a level of enthusiasm that she never previously displayed for academics."

"My mother went to see you eight years ago as well. You set her up on a…Dolphin Language program in Hawaii - she never came back. She is now happily settled, remarried, swimming with dolphins on a daily basis and has gone back to college to complete her degree. Her life certainly has changed from a housewife in Vermont to a Dolphin researcher in Hawaii. She could not be happier."

"My INTERIM time has been invaluable in shaping me to be the person I am today. My performance in high school was only average in anything but art. In applying to Skidmore…my grades will help me none. But in speaking with professors and admission representatives I realize that the person I am trying to seel lthem, who I am, is not the same person that got those mediocre marks in high school. I have dreams, desires, and driection and owe their discovery to my Center for INTERIM Programs experience."

"…as someone once reminded me, and as I now remind each incoming class at Princeton, 'the person each of you will spend most of the rest of your life with is yourself, and therefore you owe it to yourself to use your college years to become as interesting a companion as possible.' But I am also convinced that one's college education is greatly enhanced by the more maturity, experience, and perspective a student can bring to it. Alas, it strikes me that these three traits are the very ones that are most difficult for most young people to come by given the lock-step nature that currently characterizes such a large part of the school-to-college process…Indeed, of all the enthusiastic letters I send to students in one year, none are more enthusiastic than those I send in response to students requesting to defer their entrance to college."