Bienvenidos a mi blog!
I knew very early on in my college application process that I wanted to take a gap year, but I started out not knowing at all what I sought to do or achieve on it. Throughout my extensive research, I developed the understanding that above all else what I wanted was to experience growth. That primary goal has led me to a “bridge year” in Ecuador with Global Citizen Year – not a year off, but a year “on”, full of self-discovery, new perspectives, transformative growth and chock full of even more reasons why #collegecanwait .
In a week, I’ll head out to California to spend a week with my global cohort and prepare for our time abroad. From there I’ll fly to Ecuador for In-Country Orientation and spend five weeks in the capital city of Quito living and honing my language skills through intensive training. At the beginning of October, I’ll be matched with a community where I’ll live and work in an apprenticeship for the remaining six months. In April, I will return to the US and create a capstone presentation about my entire experience.
Through this bridge year I hope to become more confident and independent in approaching new situations and challenges. I want to develop my language skills and, importantly, cultivate a broader perspective on the world that is not solely influenced by where I live now. While I don’t know now where I’ll be living or what I’ll be doing, I also want to bring my own passions and affinities, especially for music, to my new home community.
I know a few paragraphs of a blog post aren’t enough to describe the year of incredible experiences I’m about to partake in, and that’s where this blog comes in. As my bridge year progresses, I’ll be updating this blog with stories, reflection, pictures (probably some selfies, I apologize in advance), jokes, and general musings. If you want to follow along with my journey, be sure to subscribe by entering your name and email on the right side of the page!
Thank you to everyone who has supported me thus far – through donations, kind words, and encouragement. I hope you’ll continue to be by my side as I venture into this new year.
Hasta luego,
Aden
PS: Here’s a completely unrelated cat gif.
