Gap Year

Philipp Hahn - Dortmund, Germany
Program: Green River to California Gap Year

“The Green River to California Gap Year program is great because I get to experience two different American lifestyles – the Pacific Northwest and California beaches,” said Philipp.

At Green River Community College Philipp lived in Campus Corner Apartments. Green River's student housing. He had two American roommates and one from China.

Philipp spent his first quarter working on his English skills by taking Intensive English classes. He also enjoyed working on campus as an International Student Ambassador. ”I helped organize soccer tournaments for students and trips to professional soccer, football, baseball games, and skiing trips to Whistler, B.C.”

He liked the atmosphere at Green River. “I met students from many different parts of the world. It is very different from my school in Germany where there are only a few international students.”

What Philipp liked most about studying at Santa Barbara Community College is the location. The college is very close to the beach. "With the nice weather, you can only be in a good mood," said Philipp.

"I think the Gap Year program is perfect, because you can improve your English, you learn to live two different American lifestyles, and you also make new friends from all over the world...this Gap Year is a lot of fun and if apply you will not regret your decision!"

Katharina Lange - Belgium
Major: Business - Marketing

I'm very happy I decided to take a gap year and to explore things before going to the university. Next year, I will begin at the local university in Belgium, Katholiek Hogeschool Leuven. Thanks to the great help at GRCC, I know that I would like to study marketing and I feel ready for the next step in my life. I decided to do marketing because I got the opportunity to work at the international office on campus as a student marketing assistant. I loved the whole process of working and I think marketing is something I will enjoy in the future.

Katharina was also one of Green River's Students of the Month. You can read more of her testimonial here.

Julie Heltne - Oslo, Norway
Major: Business

"I heard Green River was a very good school and the fact they had soccer was a bonus," Julie said.

Julie was a great addition to Green River's soccer team. She not only brought a European style to the game, she was also one of the leading goal scorers. In fact, thanks to her contributions, Green River set a record with the most wins in a season. Read Campus News article.

Julie lived in Campus Corner Apartments. She said her classes were hard but she liked it here. She made a lot of friends.

Julie's goal was to experience the American culture, major in Business, and transfer to a 4-year university in either Florida or California.

Coen Van Woerkom - Abcoude, The Netherlands
Major: Economics

"Because of the Dutch educational system, I was going to graduate from high school at quite a young age. Therefore, I decided that it would be good for me to study abroad for a year. The United States have always been very appealing to me, so it didn’t take me long to decide I wanted to go there. That left the choice of where to go in the US. With the help of an agency (Interlanguage) I eventually settled on GRCC. GRCC seemed, and has proven to be by now, the best choice for me. It was not too big, it was in a small city but near a big city, and it has a serious study environment; all things I like.

Although not everything was always easy - missing friends, family, culture, and food - overall it was absolutely worth it. I’ve met amazing people, I’ve had awesome classes, classes I would never be able to take back home, and I’ve seen some of America’s beautiful landscapes and cultures.

To all the people that are thinking about studying in the US, I would say: do it! It is a very interesting experience, and I think that GRCC would be a great location for that experience. Not only because of the good location and study environment, but also because of the many other international students that share your problems and joys."

Remco Zwetsloot - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Major: International Relations

It's been almost two years since I graduated from Green River – enough time to realize the immense impact studying in the U.S. has had on me, both personally and academically. When I first arrived at Sea-Tac, I was a rather shy kid unsure of what exactly I wanted from life. When I flew back to Europe two years later, I was a confident guy with too many dreams to realize in a single lifetime.

My name is Remco Zwetsloot, 20 years old, and I am currently a student at University College Roosevelt in Middelburg, the Netherlands. I did the medium level of high school, called "havo," in the Netherlands before going to Green River for a gap year. Within three months, however, I realized I wanted to stay in America as long as possible: I was on the cross country team and had a great group of friends, fun classes, and a job on The Current, the college newspaper – I had never been happier.

I decided to stay for another year and get my Associate's degree. Life got even better (and a lot busier) when I was selected to be Editor-in-Chief of The Current and started tutoring IESL students. Unfortunately, despite the jobs, I had run out of money by the time I graduated, and I had to return to the Netherlands. There, having become convinced of the superiority of the American liberal arts model of education, I enrolled at UCR, an international honors college of Utrecht University which employs the same model as Green River and other American universities.

There, I have since become actively involved in several student clubs. This year I was elected chairman of the Academic Affairs Council, a position which involves working with the university administration on all matters relating to academics. Last year I was offered a scholarship by The Fund for American Studies to spend a summer in Washington, D.C., enrolled at Georgetown University and doing an internship for a U.S. Senator.

None of this would have been possible without Green River. Not only did my Associate's degree allow me to enroll at UCR (normally Dutch students can only enroll at universities after completing the highest level of high school, VWO), but my two years at GRCC also taught me everything I needed to be successful here. I had learned the value of student life and getting involved. I had gained the academic skills that allow me to be a successful student. I had acquired the writing skills and built up the résumé that helped me get my TFAS scholarship. I had grown into a confident person who easily makes friends.

Looking back on the two years at Green River, I don't think I could have spent them any better. They certainly made a rather sizeable dent in my (and my parents') bank account, but, in terms of life experience, they definitely made me as rich as I could have been.