As part of an ongoing series, we'd like to introduce Sofia, one of our current Scholars. We first met Sofia, a graduate of Hastings School in Madrid, when she was applying.

We were blown away by her credentials, which included a dazzling academic profile, a High Commendation for the John Locke Global Essay Competition – which put her in the top 1% of 35,000 applicants – and an internship with the Financial Times.

Her intelligence and curiosity shines through in every conversation, and we are delighted to have been able to chat with her about her year so far with Baret.

So let me begin by asking: why a gap year, and why Baret?

I knew I was going to take a gap year for a few reasons. I’m younger than most people in my grade, I wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to study at university, and honestly, watching how fast AI is changing everything made me feel like traditional education wasn’t fully preparing people for the world we’re walking into. I wanted time to step back and rethink what I actually wanted.

What I did know was that I wanted to work and I wanted to travel. I had this whole plan mapped out and pitched it to my parents, who were understandably nervous about me traveling alone and working at such a young age. Then one day I was scrolling on TikTok and came across a Baret video—students at an airport talking about their favorite locations. Someone said Patagonia, someone said New York, someone said Paris. I remember thinking, What is this? This can’t be real.

I deep-dived. Website, Instagram, everything. At first it all seemed too good to be true. But the more I watched, the more real it felt. I kept overthinking the application video—I put it off for a month because pitching yourself for something you really want is terrifying. Eventually I submitted it, and looking back, I’m so glad I did.

What drew me in was that Baret wasn’t just one thing. You could travel, learn, work, meet people, and actually experience places—not mindlessly, but intentionally. The morning programs, the speakers, the independent reading, all of it happened within a safety net that still gave us real independence. Compared to other gap year programs that were short, narrow, or region-specific, the idea of traveling the world for eight months felt completely unmatched.

And now you've gone halfway around the world! What’s been the best part of your journey so far?

Patagonia, without question.

There were so many moments where I genuinely thought, This isn’t real life. One of the first days we took a six-hour boat ride through the Beagle Channel. We were surrounded by mountains and open ocean, and I’ve never felt so small—in the best way. We visited what’s called the loneliest lighthouse in the world, surrounded by seals. At one point we thought a massive sea lion was a rock because it was so huge.  Then we saw an entire fleet of penguins. I started crying on the boat ride back. It felt unreal. I was just filled with this tremendous gratitude: for the world, for our journey with Baret, for my life. I hope that feeling never leaves me.

Another day a hike got canceled because of ice melt, so instead of turning back, we made the most of it and walked for hours along the coast near Ushuaia. The light, the mountains, the ocean—it all looked painted. Then we came across wild horses. One of us started petting one, we were yelling random things out of pure excitement. None of us cared that we’d been up since dawn or that we’d already walked for hours. It was just joy.

Those moments—that feeling of shared awe—are something I’ll never forget.

I understand you’ve developed your own curriculum, to an extent, for your year. Tell us what you've been reading!

I’ve done a lot of independent reading alongside the program. Obviously we have the Morning Program, which introduces us to all of these remarkable professionals and speakers in each region, but I wanted to be prepared. So before each region, I made lists of books and films—not guidebooks, but stories that helped me understand the energy of a place. In São Paulo, I read Heliopolis, by James Scudamore, which painted such a vivid picture of the city’s contradictions and chaos. When I arrived, it felt exactly like the book.

That’s something I’ve loved about Baret: learning doesn’t stop at the morning program. You’re constantly supplementing it—through reading, conversations, observation. You’re learning how to look at the world.

It's incredible how in one year, one journey, you can be so transformed. Can you say more about how Baret has changed your perspective?

Baret gave me clarity—not necessarily about a single job, but about what matters to me.

I know now that I want a path rooted in humanitarian work, policy, and global issues. I’m critical of institutions like the UN, but I also believe reform is more powerful than criticism from the sidelines. What fulfills me is traveling with purpose, staying engaged with current events, and being part of systems that can actually create change.

That shift came from a mix of things: speakers, conversations, and experiences. Volunteering at a homeless shelter in New York and speaking directly with people who are working full-time but still unhoused completely reframed how I think about poverty. Visiting the Red Cross in São Paulo and learning what their work actually looks like on the ground made global issues feel tangible.

Baret didn’t just expose me to successful people, it also exposed me to reality. And that matters.

Your Capstone Project is truly fascinating and unique. Tell us about it!

For my capstone, I’m trying to write a book—emphasis on trying. I’ve been in conversation with a Spanish publisher, a process that has given the project both structure and external accountability.

The book examines ethical travel beyond environmental impact, focusing instead on the social, cultural, and ethical relationships created through movement. As a young woman traveling through regions often categorized as “developing,” I’ve become increasingly attentive to the asymmetries of power, visibility, and access that travel inevitably produces. These experiences have led me to return to a set of recurring questions:

Where does the line fall between tourism and genuine engagement?

How can one move through a place attentively without turning people or cultures into consumable experiences?

What does responsible curiosity look like in practice?

I found that much of the existing literature either moralizes travel or romanticizes it, offering abstract principles rather than lived guidance. This book is an attempt to occupy a middle ground: critical without being prescriptive. I aim to frame travel as an ethical practice, one that requires self-awareness, restraint, and sustained attention, rather than as a purely personal or aesthetic pursuit.

Travel is becoming more common, but very few people talk about how to do it responsibly in real, human terms.

Writing this alongside my travels has given my year structure and intention. It’s forced me to reflect, to listen, and to stay grounded.

We know you have one more semester to go, but looking toward the future, what do you see for yourself beyond Baret?

Baret has reshaped how I think about education, career, and even success. I’m now applying to universities with international programs and core curricula—philosophy, art, music—things I never imagined myself studying after coming from a specialized British system.

If anything, this year has made the world feel bigger. I don’t want less of it—I want more. And I want to engage with it thoughtfully.

Baret hasn’t given me all the answers. But it gave me direction and a perspective I couldn’t get anywhere else. And that’s more valuable than certainty.