Worth it

I knew I wanted to do something different on my gap year, though at first the idea of being away from home for 8 months was pretty intimidating. Though I was nervous and unsure of what to expect, I plunged into my Global Gap Year with Thinking Beyond Borders, and I am so glad I did. The program structure is, I believe, a perfect balance between academic, travel, and immersion experiences. Overall, it changed the way I saw the world and has allowed me to make the most of my college experience. I made some of my best friends on this program, as well as some of my dearest memories. One of my favorite things about the program is how the extraordinary becomes ordinary. My routine in Ecuador might include being woken by roosters, breakfasting with my host family, planting trees in the jungle, bathing in the nearby river, relaxing and playing with my host sisters and then settling into a seminar in a straw hut with my fellow students to have critical discussions about water shortages. It is definitely a challenging year, but the process of overcoming the hardships you encounter--the difficult questions, the homesickness, the culture shock--is part of what makes this year so valuable.