Sean K. 2009 Fellow
“There are so many fellows now it's really quite unbelievable. I graduated Harvard with my degree in Political Science and post-Soviet studies in May 2014. For one year I've been working on a philanthropic startup based in Hong Kong, which conducts fundraising, grantmaking, and advising with NGOs and governments in hotspots across Asia (Nepal, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam primarily) in the human trafficking space. I've since left that and am going to begin working with a small investment manager also based out here in Hong Kong.”
In 2009 I spent three months working for the Jewish community in Hamburg, Germany, traveled Europe in my free time, flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina where I did community development work for an NGO in La Boca, and then returned stateside in 2010 for a few months in AmeriCorps out of Baltimore and New Orleans. The gap year was the best decision I ever made, admittedly at a time when - looking back on it - I probably shouldn't have trusted myself to make decisions. Amidst all the chaos and uncertainty, mistakes and insecurity, I wouldn't trade any of those moments for another path.Those were the moments that brought me to where, and to who, I am today. To them, and to the Brownstein Fellowship, I owe so much.
A gap year is not about figuring out what you want to study in school, it's not about "finding yourself" (I promise that will take more than a year), and it's certainly not a year "off" from some otherwise preordained and preconceived track. My gap year was a snapshot, a glimpse of all the things I could be, could want to be, could hope to be, and often simply wasn't. My gap year was a chance for me to get my toes wet in the world, and in some cases just dive right in. Never had I asked myself, or thought of asking myself, "I'm 18 years old, I've grown up in southern California, I have a high school diploma, now what does that mean? What am I capable of? What does the world make of me?
Well I found a lot of answers. And quickly. I got to help, work with, and meet scores of people of the most incredibly diverse backgrounds, talents, dreams, potential, and impact. I faced challenges the likes of which I'd never conceived, in many cases building the confidence that even today enables me to tackle new obstacles, and just as often failing, learning something of my limits, but also gaining the experience to replace fear of uncertainty and failure with the perseverance to push myself further. With a better understanding of the potential and possibilities offered by the world beyond the usual track, I have been able to approach college with far more purpose, and being far more grounded, than I would have otherwise. Without the amazing opportunity provided by the Brownstein Fellowship program, I could have never taken these steps so critical to who I am today.
In 2009 I spent three months working for the Jewish community in Hamburg, Germany, traveled Europe in my free time, flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina where I did community development work for an NGO in La Boca, and then returned stateside in 2010 for a few months in AmeriCorps out of Baltimore and New Orleans. The gap year was the best decision I ever made, admittedly at a time when - looking back on it - I probably shouldn't have trusted myself to make decisions. Amidst all the chaos and uncertainty, mistakes and insecurity, I wouldn't trade any of those moments for another path.Those were the moments that brought me to where, and to who, I am today. To them, and to the Brownstein Fellowship, I owe so much.
A gap year is not about figuring out what you want to study in school, it's not about "finding yourself" (I promise that will take more than a year), and it's certainly not a year "off" from some otherwise preordained and preconceived track. My gap year was a snapshot, a glimpse of all the things I could be, could want to be, could hope to be, and often simply wasn't. My gap year was a chance for me to get my toes wet in the world, and in some cases just dive right in. Never had I asked myself, or thought of asking myself, "I'm 18 years old, I've grown up in southern California, I have a high school diploma, now what does that mean? What am I capable of? What does the world make of me?
Well I found a lot of answers. And quickly. I got to help, work with, and meet scores of people of the most incredibly diverse backgrounds, talents, dreams, potential, and impact. I faced challenges the likes of which I'd never conceived, in many cases building the confidence that even today enables me to tackle new obstacles, and just as often failing, learning something of my limits, but also gaining the experience to replace fear of uncertainty and failure with the perseverance to push myself further. With a better understanding of the potential and possibilities offered by the world beyond the usual track, I have been able to approach college with far more purpose, and being far more grounded, than I would have otherwise. Without the amazing opportunity provided by the Brownstein Fellowship program, I could have never taken these steps so critical to who I am today.