Ask me about...
- Learning a language
- WWOOFing
- Responding to culture shock/integrating back into life in the US/starting at Penn
- Traveling alone and in a group
Highlights from my gap year:
- My entire time in Myanmar was completely life-changing. I have particularly fond memories from my time in a small village in northern Myanmar. I was living with a family, and although we had limited ability to communicate using language, we bonded through laughter and through song.
- While I was in Peru, I took a class to become TOEFL Certified (Teaching of English as a Foreign Language). Every day, we would start class with a different game and would always end up having a ball. I enjoyed those 4 weeks of classes tremendously.
- In Ecuador, a local tour guide took me to a cloud forest called Mindo, which is right outside Quito. He showed me some of the most beautiful forests, took me on a zip line, brought me to a chocolate factory, did some birdwatching with me, and even brought me to some waterfalls, where I got to take off my shoes and wade in the water.
- In Thailand, my group and I spent a week with Burmese students learning about sustainable farming. One night, we all celebrated a lunar festival by lighting giant lanterns and releasing them into the sky together. It was beautiful and moving.
