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'Global Citizen' Gap Year Program Leads To More Success In College

Feeling Burned Out? Take A Gap Year
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For UCLA student Mai Lee, a gap year program between high school and college proved to be instrumental in determining her academic trajectory.

"My values have shifted," she recalled to HuffPost Live's Jordan Freeman of her year living in a 2,000-person village in Senegal. "My interests have shifted, and during my experience through working through apprenticeships, I realized my passions, I found out what I was really interested in and what I really wanted to pursue."

Shifting gears before making the transition into college gave Lee a better perspective on what she truly wanted out of life.

"It's really driven me to want to study those kind of things and gain those skills and gain that knowledge in college," she continued. "It's really reinvigorated me in what I want to gain from my education here."

Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation on gap year programs below.

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Before You Go

Best Countries To Study Abroad
1. Italy(01 of10)
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The church of Sant'Eusebio in the countryside of Perti. (credit:Getty)
2. Spain(02 of10)
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Spain's defender Andoni Iraola controls the ball during a training session at Rosaleda Stadium on February 28, 2012. (credit:Getty)
3. France(03 of10)
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Petite, France (credit:Flickr:guillenperez)
4. Germany(04 of10)
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In the Rathaus crypt in Goslar, Germany. (credit:Flickr:dicktay2000)
5. Japan(05 of10)
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A Storm Trooper from Star Wars in Japan. (credit:Flickr:loiclemeur)
6. Ireland(06 of10)
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Sergio Parisse of Italy runs in a try during the RBS Six Nations match between Ireland and Italy at Aviva Stadium on February 25, 2012 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
7. England(07 of10)
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Giant Olympic Rings are launched on a barge onto the River Thames, in London, on February 28, 2012, as organizers celebrate 150 days to go until the start of the 2012 London Olympics. In the background is London's Tower Bridge. (credit:Getty)
8. Brazil(08 of10)
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A Brazilian reveller poses during Carnival celebrations on February 20, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Carnival is the grandest holiday in Brazil, annually drawing millions in raucous celebrations culminating on Fat Tuesday before the start of the Catholic season of Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday. (credit:Getty)
9. Switzerland(09 of10)
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Hot air balloons take off in the Swiss Alps resort of Chateau d'Oex on January 2012 during the 34th International Balloon Festival. The world capital of the hot air baloon in the Alpine area welcomed some 100 balloons from 14 countries. (credit:Getty)
10. Argentina(10 of10)
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A clay statue representing Argentina national football team coach Diego Armando Maradona is seen inside a typical Neapolitan nativity scene in a shop, in downtown Naples on June 23, 2010. (credit:Getty)
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