Gavin C. 2010 Fellow
“I 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.”
“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.”