Check out our Semester and Flexible Experiences
Current ProgramsStep away from your everyday life, discover what’s important to you, and develop the skills and confidence you need to succeed in college and beyond.
Begin your Year Experience by setting out to one of our domestic destinations to volunteer and give back to a local community. Choose one of these sites to start your Explore phase: Florida, Montana, or Hawaii.
Florida, Montana, or Hawaii.
Live with peers, and work on a service learning project to contribute to the local community.
Be part of ongoing, sustained, and meaningful community projects, and connect with the people whose lives benefit from those efforts.
Create educational materials that focus on anti-littering and anti-pollution
Work alongside adults with disabilities in an intentional self-sustaining community
Support rehabilitation efforts in an accredited animal sanctuary
Volunteer on a local, state, or national campaign
Raise awareness and build solutions to marine debris in coastal communities
Provide extra-curricular activities for children in underserved communities
Live in San Francisco in our dorms, work in our co-working space in downtown SoMa, and explore the city by the bay. During this time you'll work with coaches and peers to help you gain a better sense of who you are and where you want to go, while developing the skills to get there. You'll also connect with our network of professional advisors who will help you prepare for what's next.
San Francisco
Work with a coach. Narrow your focus. Gain new skills.
Skills and habits to help to you find confidence, clarity and direction.
Learn by doing. Work on projects that you want to work on to help narrow down your interests.
Learn the skills they don't teach in school, such as time management, public speaking, and managing your finances.
Meet professionals who can help you learn more about your career aspirations.
Have a coach with you every step of the way to help you build on your strengths and identify areas of improvement.
Launch into the world, with the help of your coach. Use the skills you built during the Focus phase to launch a business or project, take a class, or get a part-time job or internship. The choice is yours.
Anywhere you want!
Build your portfolio. Score an internship. Apply for college.
How to apply the skills you've learned in the real world.
“At the end of the Focus phase, I launched a business called Zorm Ballz. The product was a really cool stress ball in which you could break the inside of the ball and then it would reform within a minute. During the Launch phase, I continued to work on Zorm Ballz full-time. The next steps were pivotal; I taught myself CAD, got myself a 3D printer, and the toys and games have been rolling out ever since! Right now I’m working on licensing some of my toys to larger companies, as well as starting my own toy company!”
Zorm Ballz, Founder & Maker
San Francisco, CA
"During my time in Launch, I spent my time working on logos and packaging design while learning more about the startup and tech scene. For my internship, I needed some experience and something to focus on, instead of the broad spectrum of graphic design. So I found a bootcamp in Toronto called Brainstation. Brainstation’s full-time UX program is a 10 week immersive course in which students learn everything from the strategy and planning behind designing an app or website to the UI. We learned mainly by doing instead of listening to lectures. By the end of the program, we all presented our own app concept that we had created as our final project."
Brainstation Bootcamp, UX Design
Toronto, ON
"At Fjord, my initial job description was, 'Interaction and Service design Associate.' However, my in-house name transitioned to the Fjord Artist in Residence. I’ve had the opportunity to work with big clients—they’re impressive—and for the past three months I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by different designers, all of them great at what they do. I sit in on meetings with clients and I am starting to have a firmer understanding of design thinking—literally, the way designers think. Most importantly, I’ve been able to try different design roles within Fjord to see which one I really take a liking to."
Fijord, Artist in Residence
San Francisco, CA
October 5 - December 11, 2020
January 10 - Mar 20, 2021
April 5 - June 18, 2021
Looking for a shorter gap program? Check out our Semester Experience.
Semester experienceShort term, fast track programs in specific skill sets. Take one, or stack them all for a supercharged learning experience.
VIRTUAL experience