Hello, I'm Lauren! I recently graduated from Our Lady of the Elms High School, a small a girls Catholic school in Akron. Unlike my peers who will be entering college this fall, I am taking a bridge year in Ecuador through Global Citizen Year.
During August, I will join 100 other Global Citizen Year Fellows in California to prepare for the challenges of living and working abroad. During the first month in Ecuador, I will take a Spanish language-intensive and learn how to operate in Ecuadorian work situations and home life. I’ll then head to a smaller community for the next six months, where I’ll live with a host family, and work as an apprentice with a local environmental organization. I will return to the U.S. in April, and create a capstone presentation about my experience abroad.
I was immediately drawn to this particular program because of its small scale and leadership focus, both which reminded me of my experience at my high school, Our Lady of the Elms. The principles that I learned at The Elms helped enhance my abilities as a team player and allowed me to grow into a better leader. I hope that my experiences in a foreign culture over the next year will help me increase my skills so that I can become an effective leader in our increasingly globalized world.