Baret Scholars Kick Off Gap Year in NYC

For most high school graduates, a straight path awaits them: a diploma in one hand and their college acceptance letter in the other. But, for some 100 students of 41 different nationalities, the next step is exploring the world. Being the first-ever cohort of Baret Scholars, a program that offers a one-year journey to seven different regions of the world, these students started their journey in September here, in New York.

The program, named after Jeanne Baret, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe, takes students through the following places over the course of the year: New York, São Paulo, Paris, Istanbul, Nairobi, New Dehli, and Beijing. Each stop, consisting of 20 days each, is followed by a 10-day fellowship of the scholar’s choice, designed to deepen the scholar’s understanding of the region beyond the main city. 

After their 20 days in the main city of New York, for example, scholars have the opportunity to go to Los Angeles, New Orleans, D.C., Mexico City, the Appalachian, and that’s just to name a few.

Farhad Anklesaria, the Co-Head of Global Student Recruitment at Baret, said, “The idea behind the program is to have 180 students and 20 adults live in and learn about seven different regions of the world.” He continued, saying, “A lot of students stumble into adulthood instead of kind of stepping into it. This program allows people to stride into their futures.” 

In New York City, the scholars attend morning sessions with industry leaders, including Walter Isaacson, the biographer of Elon Musk and Steve Jobs, and Robbie Myers, the editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine Elle. Afternoons and weekends are unstructured, allowing the scholars to explore on their own—whether that means going to museums or sightseeing or simply experiencing daily life in a brand new place. “We want students to have time to explore, walk around, and meet new people,” Farhad explained.

For one scholar, Rakan Shunnar, an 18-year-old Palestinian-American, adjusting to New York took a few days. “At first, I wasn’t doing New York right,” he said. “It felt fast-paced, overwhelming… but within a few days, I loved how fast it was moving.” 

Shunnar, who is interested in politics and law, is staying in New York for his fellowship and will be led by legal professionals, including a practicing lawyer and a legal consultant with experience in a legal network. “Every fellowship is run by fellows, and these fellows are experts in different fields,” he explained. So far, Shunnar has really appreciated “how they approach [the scholars] as adults and give [them] so much freedom, exploration, and good structure.”

Others, like film enthusiast Lindsey Levine, applied for the program to reassess their passions. She said that she “went to an intense art school for four years and wanted to see if [she would] still gravitate towards film” after a journey like Baret. 

However, in New York, she aims to take advantage of the diverse opportunities presented to her and explore other interests. In her first month of Baret, she has continued to engage in storytelling while connecting with industry leaders. “Today, I interviewed the CEO of SoulCycle, and I’m going to a class with her in two hours,” she told The Review.

Both scholars touched on what this year means to them. For Shunnar, this is a chance to discover more about himself. “By the end of it, I want to understand who I am as a person, my values, and what I want out of life,” he said. “Also, I just want to see the world.” 

Levine agrees. “You’re never going to have 9 months of your life to see the world. It’s not even a financial thing—it’s a time thing that everyone should think about because time is important.”

For these scholars, New York is only the beginning. The world awaits them in the coming months. 

For Riverdale students considering their next steps after high school, programs like Baret Scholars are a great opportunity to explore the world before college. Gap years are becoming an increasingly popular option, and maybe a future Baret scholar will come from the Riverdale community!