The fall after you graduate from high school, you and your fellow Fellows will come to California for the US Training Institute. GCY-style education starts here, with a few weeks of hands-on, experiential learning.

You will spend six months living with a family in a rural community in Africa, Asia or Latin America, working to support a local development project addressing a pressing need. 
While in the field, you’ll share your day-to-day experiences through your writing, videos and pictures on the GCY blog and other outlets. Once home, you will broaden your impact by sharing your experience with larger audiences through a multimedia Capstone Project. 
Fellows begin by learning how to organize and mobilize support for their bridge years in their own communities. At the US Training Institute in California, they learn from experts from top companies, non profits, and universities about leadership, economic development and social entrepreneurship.
You will spend six months living with a family in a rural community in Africa, Asia or Latin America, working to support a local development project addressing a pressing need. 
You will spend six months living with a family in a rural community in Africa, Asia or Latin America, working to support a local development project addressing a pressing need. 
While in the field, you’ll share your day-to-day experiences through your writing, videos and pictures on the GCY blog and other outlets. Once home, you will broaden your impact by sharing your experience with larger audiences through a multimedia Capstone Project. 
After the program, Fellows are prepared to begin college with passion and a clearer sense of purpose. As they move through college and careers, Fellows join GCY’s dynamic alumni network which enables them to create positive change – in communities at home and abroad - over the course of their lives.
Students apply to GCY during their senior year. Once selected, Fellows defer college enrollment for one year.