Before arriving in Brazil, all participants of Global Citizen Year meet at Stanford University in sunny California, to connect, get inspired by exceptional leaders and to share their worries and excitement. Since I was a small kid, I greatly adored the US. I remember as I watched High School Musical at home, together with my[…]
This week I wanted to share with you a round of of some truly amazing stories of Gap Year students doing wonderful things. Let’s start with… Maggie Doyne Who Built a Family in Nepal Would you believe that a 19 year old with a backpack can change the world? Here’s an excerpt of her story,[…]
Perhaps, one of the reasons why I have had such difficulty adjusting to my community in the province of Cañar, southern Ecuador, is that I come from the privileged background of never having been negatively defined because of my appearance or nationality. And all the workshops and preparation in the world could not have prepared[…]
Two months ago, I would not have guessed that I would be approached by someone asking for an interview because they thought I was a hippie. Pre-Trip Expectations Going to Guatemala was my first trip outside of the USA, and I went with (probably unreasonably) high expectations about learning Spanish, seeing the culture, and cliff[…]
Jessica Sueiro travels full time with her husband, Will & two tweens. They travel slowly, and deeply, for the purpose of education and exploration… and it all started for Jess with a trip she took to the UK in high school: Twenty-four years ago, this month, I took a trip that would forever change the[…]
Last September, I packed my bags and left the only home I’d ever known, San Francisco, and landed in Senegal where I’d be living for the next 8 months during my Global Citizen Year. After a month of cultural training and language lessons in French, I learn that I will be placed into a homestay[…]
I have come up with many a crazy plan in my time but perhaps the craziest, and best, was the day I sat on my best friend’s dorm room floor and bought a plane ticket to India with my student loan money. It was sometime around midnight and we were emotionally drunk on loathing for[…]
It took me nearly forty-two years, but I finally did it. At Heathrow Airport, London, UK, on May 24, 2016, at about 11:20 AM local time, my Countries and Continents Count increased to 3 & 2. I was only going to be there for a week. I knew nobody there. I had a pre-paid hotel[…]
I’ve always known I wanted to travel. Since I was young, exploring the pages of library books and dreaming of the world beyond my small town, I’ve only imagined what it must be like to adventure and discover the massive, beautiful world beyond my comfort zone. I found myself sick for want of travel, planning[…]
It was 20 years ago this past winter that I got an unshakable idea in my head. It was initiated by a flyer posted in my university department building about a semester abroad in China. All things Asian, specifically China, fascinated me. My head and heart were deep in Eastern philosophy and religion and I[…]