Eleven Years, 30 Fellows, and Countless Lives Changed
Anja C. '19 will spend the first semester in Spain achieving sailing instruction credentials, teach English at a school up in the Pyrenees and work a few short Environmental activism internships. Later, she will join a Spanish immersion program in Peru and Patagonia focusing on cultural inquiry, independent study, conservation work, and trekking and climbing.
Xenia B. '19 is a 2019 Fellow.
Tosh L. '19 is a 2019 Fellow.
Asher V. '19 is a 2019 Fellow.
Matt Y. '18 Travelled through the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica focusing on public health and sustainability as a journalist-in-residence for Verto Education. Then he spent 3 months interning for a Startup Accelerator called Creative HQ in Wellington, New Zealand before travelling all around the North Island.
Anneliese B. ‘18 spent the first half of her gap year interning for an engineering firm in Barcelona, Spain. She finished the year by backpacking through the Chilean portion of the Patagonia, through northern Chile and around Cuba.
Haunani B. ‘17 Haunani plans on spending a majority of her gap year pursuing and exploring the medicinal world in under developed countries such as Haiti and Sri Lanka. The rest of her gap year will be spent in Taiwan teaching English.
Christopher M. ‘17 will begin his gap year experience in Madrid, Spain where he will be teaching English and sports skills to the children of Madrid. He will stay in Europe and intern at an Eco-friendly hostel in Portugal. He then plans to move on to Central America to help preserve wildlife in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and complete a cooking internship in Guatemala.
Jordan B. '16 spent her Gap Year in Costa Rica, Baton Rouge, Thailand, India, and Burudni, Africa exploring her interests in health care and education while contributing her services to an array of organizations and causes.
George N. '16 is committed to exploring more of Chinese culture and language, building on an interest he discovered at Harvard-Westlake. He will volunteer teaching English and working with special needs children while planning further travels in China and exploring more of Asia before starting college in the fall.
Jacqueline G. '16 began her Gap Year experience in Australia at a wildlife sanctuary before heading to New Zealand, and then on to Europe where her work will focus on the environment. She also lived with families in Italy and Spain, strengthening their use of English and contributing to household upkeep while simultaneously improving her own foreign language skills.
Sarah W. ’15 volunteered in a presidential political campaign before heading to Vietnam where she will worked with young children before entering college in the fall of 2016.
Jaird M. ’15 interned with an engineering company in India that specializes in water projects. From there he went to Nepal to volunteer in the rebuilding effort and focus his efforts on helping people get access to water.
Erica L. ’15 spent a Gap Summer in Fiji working on environmental projects and learning about the local culture before heading to college in the fall of 2015. She says, "It's remarkable how people there care for the land and appreciate each other. I just loved Fiji for its friendly people and nature. Thank you so much. I never would have imagined taking a trip to Fiji." Erica is now a "star alumni" of Rustic Pathways and hopes she can take advantage of their college travel programs.
Alex M. '14 says, “I did volunteer work in Cape Town South Africa, Nusa Penida Indonesia, and Nosy Komba Madagascar while engaging in a personal writing project that includes profiles of 39 local people from the countries I visited on my trip. My volunteer work included turtle and marine conservation and an after school surf outreach program for South African children from impoverished backgrounds. At Columbia University, I am still undecided about my major but am considering studying political science. My gap year was an opportunity for me to independently create a version of a life I think I may like to have in the future, journaling my travels and interviewing locals while accustoming myself to their culture. Really, I see very few reasons not to take a gap year if one has the funds as it is a rare chance to do just about anything for a year at a time in life that is crucial for exploring oneself.”
Eojin C. ‘14 traveled in Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, India, and Europe during her gap year. “In Mongolia, I interned at the National University of Mongolia and volunteered at a local library while staying with host families. I went to Uzbekistan next as part of a broadcast journalism internship and shadowed surgeries in a children's hospital. In Myanmar, I visited Buddhist monasteries, played with children in rural villages, rode an elephant, and hiked through the fields for three days. I also traveled in India with a group of Korean middle school students as an English translator and group leader, sleeping in trains, hostels, and a sustainable community of volunteer workers. Lastly, I went backpacking alone in Europe for three months while staying in hostels, friends' homes, and with host families. After my gap year, I started attending Swarthmore College, and I'm considering a major in neuroscience or cognitive science. I am so grateful and happy that I had the chance to take a gap year— my experiences have definitely helped me become a more independent and open-minded traveler and person, and I also feel more confident to travel alone and take on new experiences, wherever they might be.”
Conor B. 2014 – Conor trained in India with the National Outdoor Leadership School and spent time in South America for a service/learning program offered through Thinking Beyond Borders. He is now enrolled in his freshman year at Bowdoin College in Maine. He writes “Some classic wonders of the world have graced my presence this past year - the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu, the sacred Ganges River - but they were never close to my fondest memories. Those came from a much simpler and oft overlooked source: people. The best day of the past 12 months was a simple Thursday in Puerto Quito, Ecuador. My four host siblings and I were left to our own devices for dinner one evening. The five of us, aged 15-22, just hung out and talked about our dreams. Robinson wants to own his own mechanic's shop. Nicole wants to go to college. Eymi talks about being a mother. Anderson dreams of the big city. My dreams seemed difficult to articulate in my "conversationally competent" Spanish.
“But now I know what I would say to my host family. Though their ideal futures varied, they shared a common thread: they were fiercely protective of their home and their culture. They were modern teenagers like I am, texting friends and worrying about Facebook appearances, but they sought to incorporate their own identity into these mediums, and it scared them that their own world seemed to be slowly, but exponentially, evaporating. And they had ideas of how to stop it.
“That's what my dream is. To spend the rest of my life finding people like them, people who understand these issues we as foreigners all claim to understand from afar without ever interacting with them, and just listen to them. Hear what they have to say and then use my abilities - education, nationality, privilege, whatever - to help them hone their ideas to make change.”
Jeffrey M. '14 wrote that he “went to Tokyo, Japan during summer last year for an amazing trip. I studied the Japanese language and immersed myself in the Japanese culture. The Fellowship experience in Japan was a breathtaking trip that has opened my mind to seek more opportunities like this one. The trip made me more independent and mature by being away from my comfort zone. I have been attending Santa Monica College for two years now and I am planning to transfer to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with the major of Computer Science. I would highly recommend that students should take some time off school to have an astonishing experience in another country. A trip like this will build someone's character and help someone decide what to actually study in college by collecting more interests. I would like to thank everyone from the Michael Brownstein Foundation for providing this amazing experience. I would like to give a shout out to my amazing mentor Hanna Park; she has helped me with this journey to Japan. I am seen to the left here with my awesome mentor Hanna Park.”
Leslie C. ‘14 spent the fall in Africa, working first on environmental education in Zambia and then volunteering in a school in South Africa. In the spring she went to India to assist in a program for women and young children. Leslie had seen and was strongly influenced by “The Pink Gang,” a documentary film about Indian women, all of whom wear pink and are trained and train others to fight against rape. She is now enrolled at San Francisco State University with plans to major in environmental engineering and minor in gender studies. Thanks to her year as a Brownstein Fellow, Leslie now has a global network of friends made during her year abroad. With her in this photo are Scott Messer, President of the Michael Brownstein Foundation, and Vice President Anna Nesser.
Greg Z. '13 reports that he graduated from Harvard-Westlake School in 2013 and “took a year off mostly for a change of pace. Keeping this goal in mind I completed a yoga teacher training course, I worked as a student volunteer on a wildlife rehabilitation center, and I taught English as a foreign language.”
David L. ‘13 traveled to Korea where he stayed in a temple. He also visited India with a Projects Abroad medicine program, and went to Thailand on a Rustic Pathways program. David also taught English in Costa Rica.
Graham C. ‘12 says that he “spent the first half of the year working in a restaurant in the valley and tutoring high school students. Then I was off to Senegal to teach English in St. Louis, which also improved my French. From there I continued to head north. I spent a few weeks in Morocco on an architecture tour, visited every art museum in Andalusia and Catalonia I reasonably could in 2 weeks, and settled down in Nice in a home stay to take cooking courses (ostensibly to improve my French). After a little time in France, I visited my family in Berlin, and then spent a month in Knebel, Denmark studying watercolor painting and enjoying the scenery of Jutland. After visiting some friends in Oslo and Copenhagen, I headed back to LA for the remainder of the summer, in preparation for the first year of university.
“Having such a transnational experience on my gap year really helped me relate to my peers at Sciences Po who came from all over the world. Seeing all of these places expanded my sense of international perspective and possibilities. Plus, without the French that I had learned over the course of the year, I would've surely been completely lost while attending university in Normandy.
“My gap year was an incredible opportunity that turned into an incredible experience.” This is the link to my YouTube channel that has videos about my gap year: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6i-x28RDfWBfvOPdlg59w
Jahaira A. ’12 began her Brownstein Fellow experience by traveling to Borneo where she volunteered as a construction worker. After completing the Borneo program she took a mini-tour of Europe and returned to California before moving on to Australia, where she planned to complete her gap year experience. Soon after arriving in Australia, however, Jahaira discovered that she was pregnant. Unable to continue with her service project, she returned to California, married and is today the stay-at-home mother of a two-year-old daughter. Jahaira's family moves often because of her husband's military commitments. He serves in the U.S. Navy and currently they are calling Seattle home.
“I’m planning to work as soon as I can, and getting an education is still one of my aspirations,” says Jahaira. “When I think about my gap year, it seems so far away, but it is definitely one of the best and most valuable experiences of my life. If it hadn’t been for that gap year I wouldn’t be me. It was sort of like a trip of self discovery.”
Josh C. '12 spent the summer in Spain in an immersion program, and is currently attending college.
Roz N. '12 went from directing the Harvard-Westlake Film Festival to turning her lens on communities in Peru, Nepal, Morocco and Ghana where she provided humanitarian aid in several local communities, coordinated through ProWorld. She is attending Pitzer College.
Steven R. '12 – “A lot went according to plan on my Gap Year, and a lot was improvised as I went. The highlights included trail maintenance of the Pacific Crest Trail in Wenatchee, Washington, organic farming north of Flagstaff, animal care at a goat sanctuary in New Mexico, and chainsaw work in southern Utah. Throughout the year I met dozens of interesting and driven people, many of whom I'm still in contact with today. I'm now an Anthropology major at Kenyon College, and in addition to my studies I live and work on a student run farm. The skills I gained during that year have helped me immensely since arriving in Ohio. From practical experience in organic farming, to a better understanding of the diverse backgrounds of my peers, I'm exceedingly thankful that I had the opportunity to take a Gap Year. For anyone considering taking the year I would say go for it! Taking a year to do something meaningful, and perhaps even scary, can provide you with immeasurable insight about yourself, your background, and the world we all share.”
Catherine W. '11 – “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.”
Sean K. '09 writes “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.”
Zack W. '08 was selected as the first Brownstein Fellow. “During my Brownstein Fellowship, I traveled to the swingy state of Ohio, where I worked on a presidential campaign registering newly voting-aged college freshmen. Best part: seeing how excited people were about getting to participate. After that, I went to Shanghai to edit articles for a magazine. Best part: playing Xiang Qi in the park with old Chinese guys. Finally, went to Bolivia to teach English; the whole thing was such a highlight that it's hard to pick a best part, but I'll go with the wonderful chicken-and-platanos place my roommate and I used to eat at every night. Ask me when it's not dinnertime and I might give you a different answer.
“Since then, I majored in math at the University of Chicago, did a couple years of PhDing at Northwestern, and I'm currently on leave to work on a startup in Chicago. I wouldn't say the gap year transformed me into some kind of superhuman, but it definitely had some long-lasting benefits. Tangibly, the Spanish I learned in Bolivia helped me get into a Barcelona study abroad program at the University of Chicago, intangibly; it inspired me to want to study abroad there in the first place! I'm very grateful to the Brownstein Foundation for giving me this opportunity, and if you're reading this and thinking about applying, I'd say if it's something you're really excited to do, go for it!”