Uncollege is the brainchild of Dale Stephens, a homeschooled student who went on to become a regular college student. He never felt that he learned anything in college that he could not have learnt himself. That got him thinking about creating an experience for other college students who were going through the same process.
An experience where they could take a year off from college and get uncolleged. This was the term he used to mean helping students find their areas of interest, speed up their learning and staying happy as they moved on to the next stage of their lives. Going from students to productive citizens.
The typical student who enrolls with the organization for an uncollege gap year is between 18 to 26 years of age. They could be yet to start college, some where in between the four years of college or have just finished the college experience. The stage they are at does not matter.
During their year with uncollege they go through three successive phases. These are termed the Voyage, the Launch and the Internship. The Voyage stage allows the students to travel to different countries and immerse in the local culture. They work in the local community doing anything from teaching students English, to helping with construction of homes.
During the Launch they return to the Uncollege HQ in San Francisco for a period of ten weeks. Each week they meet a specialist or an expert who teaches them more about the field that interests them. This is followed by an Internship. Based on the interest of the student this could be paid or unpaid. They will also have coaches and mentors guiding them throughout the year.
While it may not be everyone’s cup of tea to enroll for this year long process, it would be a good idea for homeschool students to try to do something similar on their own steam. Travelling to Europe was a coming of age ritual for a reason for the older generation. There are so many skills that the students develop as they backpack through the old world. It may be a good idea to customize a gap year for your homeschool student as well.
