F.A.Q.

1. What distinguishes Carpe Diem from other programs?
2. What is a "Gap Year" and is Carpe Diem one?
3. What is Carpe Diem's relationship with LEAPNow?
4. What do Carpe Diem programs cost?
5. Is there financial aid available?
6. Is airfare covered during my time with Carpe Diem?
7. What are the accommodations like on a group semester?
8. How do I start with Carpe Diem? What is the process?
9. How well do Carpe Diem's credits transfer?
10. What are the application deadlines?
11. Who do you typically hire as program leaders?
12. Is it safe to travel to the developing world?
13. What happens if I get sick while I'm traveling overseas?
14. Is Carpe Diem religiously affiliated?
15. What is a typical Carpe Diem student like?
16. What do colleges think about alternative educational experiences?

1. What distinguishes Carpe Diem from other programs?

Experience: Carpe Diem has a long track record of running successful international programs. In 1998, while the semesters were under the ownership of LEAPNow, our first program to Central America went into the field. Since then, group programs have run throughout the world in a variety of forms to the following countries: Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, India, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, The Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand.

Safety: Since 1978, Carpe Diem and its partners has built a vast network of contacts in most areas of the world that assist us with safety issues among other things. We stay in dialogue with those contacts regularly and especially should any particular situation arise, they are among the first we speak with. Over the course of running upwards of 65 group semester programs we've also learned where the good local doctors are, where are the areas that have any safety concern, and perhaps most importantly, where the good restaurants are. Finally, we also working with US-medical representatives to provide a level of medical supervision for our program that is unsurpassed. We work with local Portland MD who specializes in developing-country medicine, and is among very few doctors nationwide who have traveled as extensively in the developing world and holds a current certification as an Emergency Room physician. Furthermore, in our office we staff two Emergency Room Nurses and one Wilderness EMT - offering a level of support to our group leaders and students that is well beyond the standard in study abroad education.

Leadership: Carpe Diem believes in the growth and inherent value of every student. To that end our Leaders are trained in group dynamics, Wilderness Medicine, and are consciously chosen to serve as mentors to students rather than guides. Being a chaperone for a program is one function our leaders provide - safeguarding the students - but just as important is the personal growth of our students. We hope that every student finishes a Carpe Diem program and returns to their home a changed and more aware individual - not only of the world and the way it works, but also of themselves.

Authenticity: Carpe Diem strives to make every program we offer as culturally authentic as possible. This means paying staff to travel to the more remote areas of our host countries - places that tourists usually don't know about - and creating contacts that can be of service to those communities. Often times we will structure our semester months balancing a mix of those small, culturally rich sites, with larger more Americanized sites. In this way students are able to come back to a place of more comfort and a chance to digest the experience they've just had from those smaller sites. We believe that self-awareness, like a muscle, grows best if you can alternatively expand and contract.

2. What is a "Gap Year" and is Carpe Diem one?

A "Gap Year" was originally created in Europe as a transition year from High School to University. There's a natural transition that happens from High School to University that a Gap Year is designed to cater to, however, the concept is a new one in the USA and is slowly taking seed. For decades certain countries have mandated a period of service before stepping into the ranks of university and in many cases this type of pre-collegiate service only helps to make a more conscious and aware student once they arrive at university. Schools like Harvard, Princeton, and Brown Universities all give great weight to students who take a Gap Year because they know that these incoming students will be more mature and able to contribute to their institutions in a more meaningful way. A Gap Year is also traditionally seen as a way to get some real-world experience for a student who in our American educational system most likely has only read or heard about this amazing planet we all share. Gap Years are great for students who might be burnt out of classroom learning, who may have a good idea what they want to call as their career and are looking to do an internship in that field before committing 4 years and many thousands of dollars to it, or who are looking to break out and really take time to ask the deeper more personal questions that run parallel to this age: Who am I? What do I want to do with my life? What matters to me? How do I choose to define success?

While Carpe Diem's programs aren't exclusively for Gap Year students, about half of our students do arrive at our program searching for a "Gap Year experience." Carpe Diem attempts to bridge more adequately the gulf of maturity between a HS graduate and a college graduate by offering our students college credit for their experiential education. However, the vast majority of their learning takes place in small groups volunteering and turn into a good balance been external exploration and internal. With our staff to support and do appropriate pushing where needed, our students tend to walk away from Carpe Diem having experienced a super Gap Year.

3. What is Carpe Diem's relationship with LEAPNow?

LEAPNow began running group semesters in 1998. Since then LEAPNow has the combined experience of organizing approximately 65 group semester programs. Starting with the Fall 2007 semesters, all future group semesters will be run by Carpe Diem International Education, which is based in Portland, Oregon. Carpe Diem is owned and operated by Ethan Knight, who has worked for LEAPNow in multiple capacities since 1999. In the years prior to purchasing the semester programs and founding Carpe Diem, he was one of three LEAPNow executive staff members and was directly responsible for all facets of running LEAPNow Group and LEAPYear semesters. Prior to Directing LEAPNow Operations, he led four semesters - two in Central America, one in India, and a semester to Bali & India. Ethan has dedicated his professional life to international study and travel, and has lived, worked and run programs in Africa, Latin America and throughout Asia.

LEAPNow had planned to phase out the group semesters and focus exclusively on their year-long programs, but felt that the group semesters were an important program offering. The ability to maintain seamless continuity and a high quality standard made it a no-brainer to continue these programs under the capable direction of Ethan Knight and the ownership of Carpe Diem. Please note that these group semesters may be done under the umbrella of the LEAPNow Latitudes Program - where they are combined with college credit and a solo internship.

Carpe Diem and LEAPNow continue to compliment each other and are committed to mutually improving their educational offerings to students and the global community at large. We both have a strong spiritual, environmental, and social ethic that we champion by partnering with local organizations as much as possible, and volunteering in every country our programs travel to.

4. What do Carpe Diem programs cost?

In 2008/2009, the cost to participate in a Carpe Diem semester ranges from $7,900 to $9,900 depending on which program you choose. The program fee includes all language classes (where applicable), accommodation, food, travel while abroad, and all group activities. College credit is available for all programs. Each semester has two highly qualified group leaders whose primary responsibility is to the safety of each student. Please note that airfare is NOT included in the cost of our semester programs.

5. Is there financial aid available?

We highly value the diversity of students on every program and are constantly looking for ways and partnerships to increase the availability of our programs to all students regardless of financial availability. Currently there are a few sources of financial aid available for needs-based students: Carpe Diem itself is able to offer some small scholarships; through our relationship with Portland State University, Federal aid dollars are available using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); and finally there are private sources available. Please note that to fully avail yourself of Federal Student Aid you will need to apply for FAFSA at least 2 months prior to the departure of your semester.

Carpe Diem has recently started a non-profit wing called the International Carpe Diem Foundation (ICDF) to assist with fundraising for our students and to boraden the diversity of within our programs. The Foundation also has as its mandate the goal to provide scholarships for graduates to return to a particular region of the world and continue their volunteering - you'll find that these organizations and their stewards wind their way into your heart in a way that makes returning and continuing a relationship with them all the more important. We expect to have funds available for disbursement as soon as January of 2010.

In the meanwhile, we encourage students to look at our Financial Aid page. In it we've put together information about the traditional sources of financial aid through FAFSA and Portland State University, but also some of the less-traditional fundraising methods that have worked for past students. Finally, we've had some slideshows and powerpoint presentations created that are near-finished (so you can put your personal touch on them) as a way of encouraging you to get out into your community and share your upcoming journey. Here is our Financial Aid page.

6. Is airfare covered during my time with Carpe Diem?

Airfare is not included in the cost of the program tuition. Unfortunately, with the volatility of airfares, we have to make that a separate cost.

However, in order to reduce costs for airfare, we work with a travel agency who specializes in getting group and student discounted airfares to help minimize the cost to each student. In some rare cases air miles can be used for our programs, though this typically is not recommended due to further restrictions on your travel.

7. What are the accommodations like on a group semester?

Accommodations on a group semester can vary from extremely rural to incredible comfortable. On our programs in developing countries our students should expect to be taken farther out of their comfort zones; while safety is ALWAYS paramount, you may be expected to use a bucket shower at times, hand-wash your own clothes, or go without electricity for some days. We always try and balance these deep cultural experiences, however, with the occasional stay in more comfortable settings.

Thankfully, having run semester programs for as long as we have, we've learned at what point students typically are needing the comforts of home versus when they're able to better challenge their sense of comfort in exchange for a deeper cultural experience. We consciously structure our itineraries to as much as possible accommodate that often unconscious need.

8. How do I start with Carpe Diem? What is the process?

9. How well do Carpe Diem's credits transfer?

Credits are earned through Portland State University: these credits generally transfer well as 'required general credits.' Language credits typically transfer with the greatest ease. The ultimate decision about the transferability of credits lies with the admissions office of the university that you'd like to transfer the credits into, and this is often a financial game that administrations unfortunately need to play. In all cases, we recommend that you contact the school you wish to transfer the credits to and describe our program. We are used to working with universities to help bridge that transition and have spoken to numerous colleges and universities on students' behalfs.

Portland State University is a fully accredited four-year institution located here in our hometown of Portland, Oregon. Our collaboration with them has allowed our students (with enough lead-time) to gain access to FAFSA resources as well as to Portland State's own Financial Aid department. All of our coursework and our grading instructor have been vetted by Portland State University's faculty and board and met their approval. Currently we are able to offer a full semester (18 quarter credit hours) of coursework time, and are working with PSU to increase that to a full year's worth of college credit for those students opting to do our Latitudes year or two semesters in back-to-back succession.

Portland State University: http://www.intl.pdx.edu

10. What are the application deadlines?

Carpe Diem accepts students on a rolling basis for all programs - with waitlists once a program is full. Typically for Fall programs we recommend getting your application in several months in advance. Spring programs tend to fill less quickly, but we still recommend sending your application in sooner rather than later to assure yourself a spot in the program of your choice.

11. Who do you typically hire as program leaders?

Our leaders are typically 28 - 32 years old and are coming to us out of their love of working with youth. They often have a background with Americorps or Peace Corps and have traveled sufficiently to the relevant regions, as well as speak the required languages. We put them through a rigorous training process (one of the longest in the industry) to ground them not only on program itineraries and safety issues, but also to bring the soft skills of group dynamics, mediation, and conflict resolution to the forefront. We bring in select and highly-qualified teachers to present Non-Violent Communication (NVC), the work of Gay and Katie Hendricks, and both allopathic and naturopathic medicine within the context of the developing world. We are proud of our leadership-training program and believe it to be the best in the industry.

We ask our leaders to work with students not simply as a group leader, but rather as a mentor and facilitator. Over the years of running these programs we've learned that students who take charge of their own experience leave the program with a more transformed outlook on life. We consciously build our leaders up enough so that they can take the extra time it takes with each student to facilitate a good experience that will be profound and long-lasting. Consequently, we have one of the lowest student-to-staff ratios in the industry - on average 1:5.

We recognize that the quality of a students' experience is directly related to the quality of their leaders. For this reason we are very deliberate and conscious about only working with the best.

12. Is it safe to travel to the developing world?

Every day our staff dedicates time to keeping up on world events through the BBC, CNN, as well as a variety of local online papers specific to the region and languages that we travel. We also rely on our overseas network of contacts we've built over many years to provide on-the-ground information to situations should they develop. As we often say in the office, we're ultimately in the business of building relationships, and when you know and trust on a personal level the people who are giving you your information (as opposed to a faceless media source) it brings being informed about a local region within reach. In every case, we do lots of research to create the safest program we can run. If we do not feel we can manage any local safety concerns, we simply cancel the program and refund your program fees.

All of that said, we work with locals to organize our travels in areas that are as safe as possible; we organize transportation options that don't announce to the world that Americans are traveling; and we stay in contact with local US embassies in the event that anything potentially harmful should happen.

Recognizing our limitations of control, however, is not just applicable overseas. We always like to take the larger perspective and recognize not only that Carpe Diem has a phenomenal safety record, but also that safety within the US is also in our control only to a very limited extent. We do what we can in the US and abroad to safeguard our selves and our possessions, but the decision is ultimately up to each student. As a general rule, if a student gets into trouble in the States, they'll do so overseas.

13. What happens if I get sick while I'm traveling overseas?

Carpe Diem requires that every student have medical insurance during the course of their program. We have a U.S. physician that we can call in the event a student becomes extremely ill, to provide a level of medical certainty. In addition, our on-call office and support staff have a minimum of a Wilderness EMT certification if not a current certification as an emergency room nurse. Finally, all of our international program leaders are trained in wilderness medicine. Generally, however, we have traveled in these areas long enough to know whom the good doctors are and what the typical exposure is to illness during each leg of the program. During the program orientation in-country we will discuss ways to affect the greatest medicine: prevention.

While a certain amount of travelers' diarrhea is to be expected, our leaders have the travel experience and training required to determine when an illness is potentially severe and when it is more routine. Should a student ever need to go to the doctor, a leader will accompany them to make sure that the student asks all the relevant questions and gets the best medical care available.

14. Is Carpe Diem religiously affiliated?

No. Carpe Diem does not carry any religious affiliation. If anything we try and expose our students to as many different perspectives as the program can provide and make every effort to be welcoming of every perspective. We believe that no amount of dogma can truly capture an individual's relationship with the world that surrounds them, and therefore consciously attempt to fold as many regionally-relevant traditions into each program.

15. What is a typical Carpe Diem student like?

Most incoming Carpe Diem students are creative young adults that are looking to do something "real" with their time before settling down for anywhere from another 4 to 8 years of studying in university. Doing a program like Carpe Diem's helps both recharge students' batteries for more academia, but it also provides a great wealth of emotional intelligence. In fact, universities across the US are beginning to make note of and provide real incentives to students to take this time away from traditional academia because the students they see entering their schools are entering more enthusiastic, more curious, and capable of making better decisions.

We always tell students that entering directly into the university system from high school is the common decision; but rarely are students ready to take full advantage of the money and teachers that the university systems can provide. Students completing our program usually have a better direction for their studies, emerge with a greater understanding of the world they live in, and regain their curiosity and ownership over their own lives.

We've had participants as old as 26, and as young as 16, though the average age for participants tends to be around 19.

16. What do colleges think about alternative educational experiences?

Most colleges are very supportive as long as the student is doing something productive and structured. They recognize that students, who engage in a year of creative, alternative learning, return to the classroom with a more mature and motivated outlook. For instance, Yale University's Board of Directors recently discussed the possibility of requiring all incoming freshman to take a year of meaningful service and work, before beginning at Yale. If you are waitlisted at Tufts University, they guarantee you admission in the next year if you do a year of service. Princeton University has just recently started a program within their own institution offering a GAP Year to any incoming freshmen. In their own words: “This bridge year initiative lies at the intersection of two high priorities of Princeton. One is to increase the international perspective of all students, which this program would do both through the direct experiences of those who participate and the insights they share with other students when they arrive on campus. The second priority is to expand Princeton’s commitment to the service of all nations by encouraging students to spend time abroad engaged in meaningful service activities to which they can devote their full energies.” For the full article, please follow this link: http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/08/0225/bridge

Most admissions officers now understand that creative use of a Carpe Diem program provides them with students who are more mature and motivated. Most students taking time off between high school and college apply to and are accepted to college, then defer a year to engage in Carpe Diem programs.

We routinely provide our students with a letter explaining to their college what the student will be doing - to support a deferment.

Click on this link to read an article by the staff at Harvard about their opinion on programs such as Carpe Diem's. "Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation"