Catherine W. 2011 Fellow
“I'm the lucky and grateful recipient of the 2011 Michael Brownstein Memorial Gap Year Fellowship. I am currently a senior at Yale studying Economics. On campus, I sing a cappella and I also walked onto Yale's Varsity swim team. I hope to work in entertainment after graduation, and I've spent my past summers interning for Lionsgate Entertainment, the Oprah Winfrey Network, and Disney ABC Television Group.
“I started my gap year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, volunteering at a public daycare center and teaching English. During my free time, I traveled with other volunteers around the country to places such as Iguazu Falls and the Amazon. During winter break, I traveled to Western Europe for a month. I then interned for the Democratic National Committee in Washington D.C. While in D.C., I shook President Obama's hand, went to the arrival ceremony of the British Prime Minister at the White House, and attended the centennial Cherry Blossom Tree Planting with the First Lady. During the final leg of my gap year, I traveled to China, where I spent time with extended family, explored my heritage, and practiced my Chinese.
“By the end of my gap year, I had surfed in Hawaii, celebrated Christmas in Venice and visited my ancestor's graves in China. I created relationships and memories I won’t ever forget. I am so appreciative of the Brownstein family and everyone involved with the Brownstein Fellowship for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Gavin C. '10 graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 2010, took a gap year as a Brownstein Fellow from 2010 to 2011, and graduated from Princeton with a B.A. in East Asian Studies in 2015. He writes “I am currently an ITO Fellow working at the University of Tokyo School of Engineering as a research student, and I will begin work next year at the Boston Consulting Group's New Jersey office.
“As a Brownstein Fellow, I taught English in Morocco, volunteered at a center for disabled children in Shanghai, and worked on a seahorse preservation project two hours away from running water in the Gulf of Thailand. My Brownstein Year was an incredible experience that opened my eyes to new cultures and place. I learned about the importance of environmental issues, policy, and culture, and I became a much more global thinker.
“The impact this had on my college career was obvious and immediate. I did not hesitate to find internships abroad, and I worked in Beijing, Bangkok, and Shanghai during my summers. I focused my studies on issues on the intersection of the environment and culture, and I authored a thesis directly influenced by what I saw on my gap year. The year has stayed with me, and I'm still learning things from the many things I saw and did during my time abroad as a Brownstein Fellow.
“I would absolutely recommend taking a gap year. It is one thing to travel to a country and another thing entirely to live there and create a life for oneself, and you only have the time to do it on a gap year. College can wait, but the gap year can't. If it sounds like something you would like to do, then go for it! I'm very glad I did, and I remain deeply grateful to the Brownstein Foundation for the opportunity.”
“I started my gap year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, volunteering at a public daycare center and teaching English. During my free time, I traveled with other volunteers around the country to places such as Iguazu Falls and the Amazon. During winter break, I traveled to Western Europe for a month. I then interned for the Democratic National Committee in Washington D.C. While in D.C., I shook President Obama's hand, went to the arrival ceremony of the British Prime Minister at the White House, and attended the centennial Cherry Blossom Tree Planting with the First Lady. During the final leg of my gap year, I traveled to China, where I spent time with extended family, explored my heritage, and practiced my Chinese.
“By the end of my gap year, I had surfed in Hawaii, celebrated Christmas in Venice and visited my ancestor's graves in China. I created relationships and memories I won’t ever forget. I am so appreciative of the Brownstein family and everyone involved with the Brownstein Fellowship for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Gavin C. '10 graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 2010, took a gap year as a Brownstein Fellow from 2010 to 2011, and graduated from Princeton with a B.A. in East Asian Studies in 2015. He writes “I am currently an ITO Fellow working at the University of Tokyo School of Engineering as a research student, and I will begin work next year at the Boston Consulting Group's New Jersey office.
“As a Brownstein Fellow, I taught English in Morocco, volunteered at a center for disabled children in Shanghai, and worked on a seahorse preservation project two hours away from running water in the Gulf of Thailand. My Brownstein Year was an incredible experience that opened my eyes to new cultures and place. I learned about the importance of environmental issues, policy, and culture, and I became a much more global thinker.
“The impact this had on my college career was obvious and immediate. I did not hesitate to find internships abroad, and I worked in Beijing, Bangkok, and Shanghai during my summers. I focused my studies on issues on the intersection of the environment and culture, and I authored a thesis directly influenced by what I saw on my gap year. The year has stayed with me, and I'm still learning things from the many things I saw and did during my time abroad as a Brownstein Fellow.
“I would absolutely recommend taking a gap year. It is one thing to travel to a country and another thing entirely to live there and create a life for oneself, and you only have the time to do it on a gap year. College can wait, but the gap year can't. If it sounds like something you would like to do, then go for it! I'm very glad I did, and I remain deeply grateful to the Brownstein Foundation for the opportunity.”