What inspired you to work for Warriors Academy?
I love what they stand for and how they help young adults find direction through adventure and personal development workshops. Watching a student at the beginning of their quest or gap year and seeing how much growth they have experienced is so rewarding. We often sit at graduation with tears in our eyes, marveling at the students and how far they have come.
Off on a group horse riding adventure with the participants on our program.
What is your favorite part of your job?
Connecting with prospective gap year students and their parents, sharing more about our program and how our organization works. We offer a unique once-in-a-lifetime gap year experience that is focused on more than just travel. Our team uses adventure to challenge our students to help build their emotional fitness, mental strength, and self-belief.
What are some current projects you are working on?
Bringing more awareness around our Gap Year program, quests and multi-activity adventure instructors program. We have three main courses on the go, and each offers something unique and different. They have been developed to provide an incredible experience for those students looking to expand their horizons and experience something new.
Cultural experiences are the best kind of experiences, our students learned this first hand.
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
Life is short, if the opportunity presents itself, then take it. We only have one life to live, so it is essential to experience as much as you can while you can. Don't take these moments for granted.
Push yourself and embrace the unknown. You will never regret traveling. It opens up your eyes to new experiences, people, and cultures. It provides you with anew perspective and a worldly view of things.
Why should someone choose your organization over competitors?
Warriors Academy offers something completely unique regarding the focus on personal development and growth. This is not just a holiday. It is challenging, tough and forces students out of their comfort zones.
No other gap year program does this while incorporating the vast number of activities that we provide. We also understand the body, mind and soul connection and work hard to provide the skills our students need to maintain this connection and look after their mental and physical states.
We made sure to take in the views while camping together on a beautiful mountainside.
What makes Warriors Academy easy to market to potential participants?
Price wise, we are positioned incredibly well. Our gap year is broken up into four seasonal seven week quests that allow students to complete any number of quests or the full gap year. This provides students with more flexibility, especially where their studies are concerned. This works well for both European students who often have a long summer holiday break, as well as US students who have a long break between school finishing and college/university starting.
What is your organization's mission and how do you continue to work toward it?
Our mission is to continue to grow the business so that we can assist more students with finding direction and having these unique experiences that will alter their lives forever. Over and above this we look forward to creating an organization that students always feel connected to. We have many families who send all their children to us and it has almost become a right of passage for them before they take on their studies.
What do you hope participants take away from your programs?
I hope they know they can achieve more than they think they can. I hope they leave and have given it their all. I want them to know they have the tools to overcome any challenges.
I want participants to know they will forever be part of the Warriors family. This program is so much more than a program focused on adventure and personal growth. It is a place that brings people together and creates lifelong friendships.
Exhausted but happy, we finally got a chance to relax after a long day rafting.
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
Through travel, you are forced to move out of your comfort zone, and when doing so, you are exposed to more experiences, people, and cultures. In this way, you get a completely different and unique view of the world around you. It really facilitates the growth of a global citizen, one who is able to look beyond themselves and their experiences.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Meaningful travel is an experience that shifts your perspective on things. It provides you with an opportunity to experience something completely different, to meet different people and often challenges you to get out of your self-limiting beliefs or opinionated perspectives. Travel opens up your eyes, it is a gift and one that will stay with you forever.
