The Gap Year Experience

The Gap Year at ALA

The ALA gap year program gives outstanding students from around the world the opportunity to spend 10 months immersed in the African Leadership Academy experience. Students selected for this program will enjoy:

Making an Impact: The Culminating Service Project
Each gap year student will design and implement a Culminating Service Project over the course of their time at ALA. Each student will identify a need in an African community and will work with a team to implement a project to address this need. The project will enable students to act as a leader and leave a lasting positive impact on an African community.

Broad exposure to the African continent
Students will live and interact on a daily basis with the most outstanding young leaders from across Africa and will complete ALA’s unique interdisciplinary African studies curriculum. They will be exposed to African history, politics, anthropology, geography, literature, art, and music. Students will leave with an understanding of pressing challenges on the African continent, including hunger eradication, disease prevention, health care provision, economic growth, and conflict resolution – and will discover how these challenges can be solved.

World-class instruction and mentorship
Students will interact regularly with an outstanding global faculty and will develop a relationship with a distinguished personal mentor. ALA Experts-in-Residence, including faculty from leading universities and renowned global leaders and entrepreneurs, will lead short seminars that challenge students to broaden their horizons and prepare them for the challenges of leadership.

Leadership and entrepreneurial skill development
Students will deeply engage in ALA’s world-class programs in leadership and entrepreneurship. They will develop the mindset and foundation of skills necessary to design innovative solutions to challenging problems, and they will hone the leadership skills necessary to mobilize people and resources as an agent of positive change.

Language study and University credit
Students will have the opportunity to work with native speakers and build competence in any of a wide range of languages spoken in Africa, including French, Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili, and Zulu. ALA also offers opportunities for further study in disciplines including mathematics, sciences, English, and economics. In all subjects, students will have the opportunity to complete Cambridge A-Level Examinations, which are widely recognized for entrance and credit at the world’s top universities.