Introduction

My name is Aden Gilmour and I will be going to Ecuador this September. I did not get the idea to take a bridge year until I started my college visits. After touring a number of schools, I was sitting with an admissions officer and they asked me if had considered doing a gap year program. I had not, so we discussed the different options. I went home that night and researched all the programs we had talked about. After seeing the Global Citizen Year website, I knew that I had found the ideal program. My sophomore year in high school I was an exchange student in Sao Paulo, Brazil, so I was familiar with the concept of traveling to a foreign country for a long period of time.  The apprenticeship was something I found very appealing because it would allow me to develop a skill while traveling and to receive real world education in a field I’m interested in. The combination of travel with volunteerism was very compelling for me. I’m excited to start my trip in less than a month!