Fiorella
Gap Year Student · Duke Gap Year Program
From Oxford, UK, Fiorella is taking a structured gap year before university. She is spending four months volunteering at a rural girls boarding school in Zambia as a dorm mother and preschool helper, pursuing intentional personal development before higher education.
Why: Perfect match on gap year timing and UK independent school background (Oxford). Strong humanities/service orientation. Less evidence of dual Romance language focus, though international volunteering suggests cultural engagement.
Ella Stevenson
Gap Year Traveler, now BA Criminal Justice and Criminology Student · University of Leeds
Attended Bradfield College (independent school) and took a gap year traveling to South East Asia before beginning her BA in Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Leeds (Russell Group). She received a Bradfield Society Adventure Travel Award for her gap year travels.
Why: Excellent match: independent school (Bradfield) to Russell Group (Leeds) with intentional gap year. Humanities/social sciences focus (criminology). Limited evidence of Romance language focus but strong cultural exploration through travel.
Isabelle K
A-level French Student · Lancing College
A-level French student at Lancing College (independent school in Sussex) who won a travel award and spent over two weeks in La Rochefoucauld, Charente, France to improve her French speaking skills. She is focused on language immersion as part of her pre-university development.
Why: Strong independent school background (Lancing College) with clear French language focus and cultural immersion. Pre-university stage with language development priority. Travel award suggests intentional pause/enrichment, though shorter than full gap year.
Scarlett Mayfield
Modern and Medieval Languages Student · University of Cambridge
Third-year Modern and Medieval Languages student at Cambridge studying French, Spanish, and Portuguese. From Brighton, England, she is currently on her year abroad undertaking internships between Oaxaca and other locations, demonstrating deep Romance language commitment.
Why: Exceptional dual (actually triple) Romance language focus with French and Spanish. Russell Group (Cambridge) humanities trajectory. Already at university rather than pre-university gap year stage, but shares the linguistic and academic DNA strongly.
Sofia
Baret Scholar, Gap Year Student · Columbia & Trinity
Graduate of Hastings School in Madrid who took a gap year before attending Columbia and Trinity. She had a distinguished academic profile including a High Commendation for the John Locke competition, demonstrating strong humanities orientation and intentional pre-university pause.
Why: Perfect gap year timing and humanities focus (John Locke essay competition). Madrid school background suggests Spanish language exposure. Elite university trajectory though not UK Russell Group. Strong intellectual/cultural orientation.
Eliza Kuhlmann
Gap Year Student in France
Felt lost after high school graduation and took a gap year living in France before college. The immersive French experience better prepared her for college life, demonstrating intentional pause for cultural and linguistic development.
Why: Perfect gap year timing with French immersion focus. Strong Romance language orientation. Less clear on independent school background or Russell Group destination, but shares the intentional pause and linguistic development priorities.
Hannah Freckleton
Gap Year Student, Princeton-bound · Princeton University
Former A-level student taking a gap year before Princeton, spending time in Costa Rica immersed in Spanish-speaking environment. Living on a finca surrounded by tropical agriculture while developing language skills and cultural understanding before university.
Why: Excellent gap year timing with Romance language immersion (Spanish in Costa Rica). A-level background suggests UK education system. Elite university destination (Princeton). Strong cultural/linguistic development focus, though not Russell Group specifically.
Charlotte Kearns
Gap Year Traveler · Stanford University
Took a gap year to travel, learn, grow, and work before beginning studies at Stanford University in fall 2023. Spent 80 days in India backpacking through the Himalayas, whitewater-rafting, and immersing in local culture, demonstrating intentional pre-university development.
Why: Perfect gap year timing and intentional pause philosophy. Elite university destination (Stanford). Cultural immersion focus, though in South Asia rather than Romance language regions. Less clear humanities/language orientation.
