Guru गुरु (/gu-ru/): a teacher; especially one who inspires new beginnings.
Guru, a sanskrit word that translates into: the one who takes us away from the darkness (gu) and puts us into the light (ru). We guide you through the process of becoming and help you discover your true authentic self.
Gap Year Guru works with you to create a gap experience that is aligned with your unique strengths, passions, and goals.
Our Story
It all started with a laceless shoe. Deb Freidman was rushing through the airport in (Year?) to catch the flight that would take her off to college, when she suddenly stopped. She instinctively knelt down to tie her shoe, but there were no laces—she was wearing slip on boots. Why did she do that? She carried on and made it onto the flight in the nick of time.
As she set off for college, it dawned on her that she there was something within her that wanted to miss that flight. She hesitated to get on board, looking for reasons to stop herself. At 18 years old, she wasn’t sure of who she was or who she wanted to be, she wasn’t confident in her chosen major, and she simply wasn’t ready to go.
Kids needed a better way to evaluate what they wanted out of their lives and understand the options available to them between high school and college.
When Deb discovered travel, she began to find herself. She thought about how much sooner she may have been able to discover her passions and gain direction in life if she had traveled before she invested in college. This is when she became intrigued with international education and the concept of a gap year.
After receiving her Masters in International Education and writing her thesis on gap years, Deb set out to design, plan, and even host study abroad and gap programs for students. She hosted Semester at Sea, led groups through India, Costa Rica, and more. She not only managed the programs, but she provided support to the students and their parents throughout the entire experience.
With every trip she took, she watched her students transform into passionate, driven, confident, self-aware, and empathetic people—while simultaneously feeling similar transformations happen within herself.
After working for organizations such as UNICEF, Avenues: The World School and Global Learning Across Borders doing program design work, she realized that kids needed a better way to evaluate what they wanted out of their lives and understand the options available to them between high school and college.
Deb became a certified life coach, and began coaching students to discover their purpose and connect them to the right gap program in 2010. Now a team of 3, the Gap Year Guru team coaches not only students, but also their parents, mid-career adults, and even families taking gap experiences together. Gap Year Guru is a resource for both educators counseling students through their decisions, those hosting gap programs, and those interested in gap years.
Travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer.
Our Team
Deborah Friedman Lesser
Founder & Gap Expert
Deb is passionate about helping individuals discover their purpose, their independence, and their place in the world. She is an international educator with over 16 years of experience consulting with students, parents, and educational institutions around the world.
She has a Masters in International Education from SIT: Graduate Institute, is a certified Coactive personal and professional development coach, is an experienced global program designer and international program manager, and a risk management expert specializing in health and safety abroad.
Combining her coaching skills, knowledge, and resources she has developed from working in the field of international education, she founded Gap Year Guru in (YEAR).
Alongside her growing team, Deb helps her clients plan their own gap year experiences that are aligned with their unique strengths, passions, and goals.
She has worked with organizations and programs, including:
Avenues: The World School
UNICEF
Global Learning Across Borders
Semester at Sea
Experiment in International Living
The Dwight School
World Leadership School
Institute for Civic Leadership
Me to We
CIEE
Claire Sellers
Gap Expert
Claire became passionate about gap years when she took one herself as an adult. She has worked in international education at organizations such as Avenues: The World School and The American School in Switzerland for over a decade. She has overseen more than 50 study abroad programs across 6 continents, helping thousands of students discover new passions and see the world. She has designed and implemented programs both domestically and internationally ranging from study abroad, after school enrichment activities, summer programs, online learning, and continued education.
She is a trained CoActive life and leadership coach who has worked with clients of all ages and life stages through their study abroad programs and gap years. Additionally, Claire has spent years throughout high school, college, and throughout her career studying, teaching, and working abroad.
Kempie Blythe
Gap Expert
Kempie Blythe knows first-hand the power of taking a gap between high school and college. She brings over a decade of experience guiding, coaching, and mentoring young adults. She has worked with students ranging from high school to college through diverse landscapes and transitions in life. Inspired by her own gap semester experience in Micronesia, Kempie has dedicated her career to challenging students’ conceptions of their own worldviews and capacities as well as supporting them in discovering their passions and developing the necessary skills to connect beyond borders.
She has worked in India, Morocco, Jordan, Senegal, Vietnam, South Africa, Argentina, and Brazil as well as traveled extensively throughout Asia and Africa, and holds a Master’s degree in International Education and Development.