Months after cracking open 5-pound books and writing 20-page papers to gain a master's degree at an Ivy-League university, Malena Amusa realized she had much more to learn about life.

"I always prided myself on academic achievement and going to the best schools," said the 26-year-old founder of *ADDLife! World*, an events and media firm. "But somehow along the way, my knack for living utterly fearlessly got lost. I was leaving behind my happy-go-lucky girlhood and this terrified me."