Roads Less Traveled Bypass Admission Drama
For high school seniors, December is difficult. Early decision college announcements are pending and regular decision application deadlines loom perilously close. Pressure mounts as friends and relatives ask about the future. Some students avoid the stress and take a year-long detour around the drama of U.S. college admissions. Ann Bergen, a college and […]
Global Competencies for High School Graduates
What does it take to succeed in a work world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous? How does a young person succeed as a citizen of an integrated global economy? While traditional, fundamental skills are still important, so are empathy, ease with ambiguity, resilience, grit, and global mindset. But how many high school graduates […]
Global Citizen Year Series: High School Graduates Take a Global Gap Year
Welcome to the first in our series of blog posts about Global Citizen Year (GCY), an organization dedicated to making a global gap year accessible for students of all backgrounds. Abby Falik, GCY Founder and CEO, envisions a new norm for students in transition from high school to college. She talked with Tanya Mas from […]
RM Alumni Participate in Global Citizen Year
Global Citizen Year Fellows Noah Montemarano (United States | India ’18) and Elise Steenburgh (United States | Brazil ’18) discuss the reasons they decided to take a gap year before college. Originally published by The Tide. For those not seeking a typical college freshman year, a gap year can provide a life-changing experience. […]
From Gap Year to Bridge Year
Listen to Episode 17: From Gap Year to Bridge Year Paulina Jedrzejowski was five years old when two airliners slammed into the World Trade Center. She was just a few miles away in Brooklyn and wondered why ashes and bits of paper were floating down from the sky. Despite growing up in an America […]
How Travel Exposes the Nerve You Can’t Ignore
The British born essayist, Pico Lyer, once said, “We don’t travel to move, we travel to be moved.” There is a unique power in global experiences that takes us outside our comfort zones and shapes our empathy. Abby Falik is one of those individuals who have discovered this power. Abby is the Founder & […]
Abby Falik named “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs of 2017″ by Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs is recognizing Global Citizen Year and its CEO and Founder Abby Falik as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs at 2017 Builders + Innovators Summit in Santa Barbara, California. Goldman Sachs selected Abby as one of 100 entrepreneurs from multiple industries to be honored at the two-day event. Global Citizen Year […]
The visionary entrepreneur bridges education and travel for students across the nation.
See original article on AFAR. In 2016, former President Obama’s daughter Malia took a year off before starting college. Her decision made headlines—but Abby Falik, the founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year, hopes that someday soon, such a choice would be completely expected. Falik founded Global Citizen Year in 2010 to send high school […]
Penn State student has transformative experiences on campus and around the globe
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Grace Mannix, a junior studying recreation, park and tourism management in Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College, spent her summer vacation gathering cold-weather gear and giving herself a crash course in the Russian language. This fall, instead of returning to Penn State’s University Park campus, Mannix boarded a transatlantic flight to Russia, where she’ll spend […]
Taking Charge of My Own Learning
Written by Shannon Yang (United States | Senegal ’18) “Why are you taking a gap year?” The question would often catch me unprepared, like a storm coming earlier than forecasted. I would often shrug and tell the curious asker that I just needed a little more time, or that I felt burnt out, […]
