Fellow Stories

Why a Gap Year?

Rebecca Bogart

2018-09-13

Hi! My name is Rebecca Bogart and I was born and raised in South Florida. I decided to take a gap year for multiple reasons. I’m sick of hearing stories of people who went to college for all four years and come out not knowing what they want to do afterwards or can’t even find...

What Drove Me to Take a Bridge Year

Frantzia Theodat

2018-09-13

  I was not ready to consider my future on my first day of senior year. I would walk down the halls of school and feel light; unaware of the fact I’d need to make major life decisions soon. It was childlike oblivion. Most people would be happy to feel no sense of obligation to...

The Cure for Homesickness?

Grace Peel

2018-09-12

It happened on the second day, right after breakfast. I called my mom for the first time since arriving at my host family’s house. We talked about how great my host family is, how beautiful Illuman (my new town) is, how excited I am to start my new apprenticeship, and how things are back at...

Ignorance.

Miriam Abel

2018-09-12

“When will you leave to Africa?”  “Isn’t t dangerous for women in Africa?”  “You are very brave to go to Africa.”    First, I am going to Senegal. A country IN Africa. Africa is NOT a country. Africa is a CONTINENT.    Second, Africa is a continent full of cultural, social and political diversity. It...

note to self

Miriam Abel

2018-09-12

Bring yourself back to the time when Senegal sounded so unrealistic and distant to you that you found it hard to express your thoughts about it. Remember the excitement that ran through your veins paired with a never-felt-before anxiety about this decision that you made for yourself. Compare this rollercoaster of emotions to how you...

A Thought and a Poem

Sophia Youngdahl

2018-09-12

Communicating Without Words

Ara Vickers

2018-09-12

To preface this, my current knowledge of Portuguese is at or a peg below a native toddlers (although I’ve met some 4 year olds with a significantly broader vocabulary). I can safely navigate conversations discussing food & how hot/cold it is, but any other topic pushes me into my stretch zone. In order to communicate...

The Complexities of Being an American Abroad

Natalie Glick

2018-09-12

Today is 9/11. It’s a day that is normally filled with remembrance, a day I personally don’t remember all that well, but it still holds a deep place in my heart. 9/11 was a day that changed The United States of American forever. 17 years ago today 3,201 people lost their lives to a terrorist...

Luzia

Laura Harvey

2018-09-11

In three weeks of orientation, I’ve carried my notebook, pen and water bottle around my fair share of classrooms, lecture halls and conference rooms. I carried them around the Tufts and Stanford Campuses and the Morros Das Pedras Hotel in my tote bag, somewhat obnoxiously adorned with a print of Botticelli’s Primavera. I could derive...

I Miss You, I Miss You Not

Ellie Van Gorden

2018-09-11

Things I Miss: ·         Toilet paper ·         Tissues ·         La Croix/ water that doesn’t taste faintly soapy ·         The luxury of speaking my first language ·         A warm shower ·         Clean air ·         Things to look at on the walls ·         Air conditioning. Air conditioning. Air conditioning. ·         The sound of cicadas at dusk ·        ...

Drop-Off Day

Ellie Van Gorden

2018-09-11

I’m here. I’m finally here. After 5 months of anticipation, uncertainty and a touch of fear I am in my new home. I am in my new room. My things may be somewhat organized in my cabinet and my desk, but the space remains foreign. I keep reading through notes, going through pictures and even...

Getting There

Jeremy Chan

2018-09-11

As I fly into my new adventure, my gap year in Ecuador, I can’t stop thinking about what my second year told me about her gap year experience in Ecuador. Just 2 weeks ago, I was still in HK, having lunch with her. Time passed by real quick. I left Hong Kong a week and...