Bruce Palmer On the Value of a Gap Year

At this year’s AGA Conference I caught up with Bruce Palmer, long time Admission and Marketing director at the AGA accredited Gap Year organization, National Outdoor Leadership School and father of a student who completed a NOLS program. We talked about the importance of outdoor education, Gap Years and the value of this kind of experience in the life of a young person.

Please tell us a bit about who you are: 

I’m the Director of Admissions and Marketing at NOLS and have worked with the organization for over 26 years. Previously I worked in university admissions for a decade. My favorite part of that job was interviewing students because you learn so much about so many different things.

I found out about NOLS while I was working in admissions, interviewing NOLS grads. I was interested in outdoor education and impressed by the students coming out of NOLS programs, which lead me to working with the organization.

I believe that the education that NOLS provides has an impact. Coming from a traditional background and transitioning to an experiential school had been very exciting; I love watching students as they come in, unsure and tentative about the experience, and the transformation by the end into capable and stron young people who exude confidence. They make friends for life and develop skills they couldn’t have imagined. They have a “swagger,” a just confidence in themselves and what they are capable of. Passion develops in these courses.

Read the full interview here.