I posted a comment to olivia's post, in case you don't see it!
< /selfpromotion >
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Hello!
Hi everyone! Thanks for setting this up. I've never actually blogged before, so i'm not sure if this is the right place to put this.
I'm olivia and i'm going leaving for the airport to fly to china in about an hour. For the first semester I will be living in beijing taking a language class at peking university. It's a four hour course in the morning, so my afternoons will be free. I'm hoping to find some kind of volunteer teaching job or tutoring to do in the afternoon. I'm also hoping to travel a lot while i'm there. I'm not sure what i'm going to do for the second semester. Most likely, i'll stay in China. I would like to get a job teaching English, preferably outside of beijing.
I chose to take a gap year because studying abroad for an extended period is definitely something i wanted to do. Of course Stanford has the bing overseas program, but there is so much offered at Stanford, i wasn't sure i would be willing to leave for so long. it seems to me that the year between highschool and college is one of the most flexible, and a great time to do this. I'm hoping that during my gap year I'll meet lots of different people and see things that wil give me many different perspectives even beyond the typical college experience. I think that living on my own, i'll become much more independent which will help me make the most of all stanford has to offer. Afterall, most of us will only get to do the college experience once.
I decided to go to China because not only is it a fascinating place, but in many ways, it was the easiest for me to set up. My brother has been living in china for the last 10 years, so having him there definitely helps, although he currently lives in shanghai. I took Chinese in highschool and studied there for a month once before, so it was the logical choice. Also, the living is pretty inexpensive and because it is still very much a developing country, I think that there will be more chances to volunteer at something like teaching english than in other countries.
Before making my decision to take a gap year, I talked to a lot of people about whether it was something that i wanted to do. It was an idea that had been playing around in my head since the beginning of junior year, but it took me until the end of senior year to make a definite decision. The vast majority of people i talked to said that it was a great option and many of them wished they had taken a year between highschool and college. My dad definitely wanted (and still wants) me to go straight to stanford. I think that he sees the gap year option as a good idea for students that are burnt out after highschool and not fully happy about going off to college. As I was neither of these things, he sees my gap year as an unecessary biding of time. So, although he made it clear that it was my decision, it was difficult to go against my dad's wishes, because I usually respect his opinions.
Despite this, I am satisfied with and excited about my choice. Although it is a little hard to watch all of my friends' pre-college preparations and think how different my year will be from their's, i can't wait to start!
So this turned out to be a longer post than I anticipated. I hope i didn't bore all of you.:)
I'm olivia and i'm going leaving for the airport to fly to china in about an hour. For the first semester I will be living in beijing taking a language class at peking university. It's a four hour course in the morning, so my afternoons will be free. I'm hoping to find some kind of volunteer teaching job or tutoring to do in the afternoon. I'm also hoping to travel a lot while i'm there. I'm not sure what i'm going to do for the second semester. Most likely, i'll stay in China. I would like to get a job teaching English, preferably outside of beijing.
I chose to take a gap year because studying abroad for an extended period is definitely something i wanted to do. Of course Stanford has the bing overseas program, but there is so much offered at Stanford, i wasn't sure i would be willing to leave for so long. it seems to me that the year between highschool and college is one of the most flexible, and a great time to do this. I'm hoping that during my gap year I'll meet lots of different people and see things that wil give me many different perspectives even beyond the typical college experience. I think that living on my own, i'll become much more independent which will help me make the most of all stanford has to offer. Afterall, most of us will only get to do the college experience once.
I decided to go to China because not only is it a fascinating place, but in many ways, it was the easiest for me to set up. My brother has been living in china for the last 10 years, so having him there definitely helps, although he currently lives in shanghai. I took Chinese in highschool and studied there for a month once before, so it was the logical choice. Also, the living is pretty inexpensive and because it is still very much a developing country, I think that there will be more chances to volunteer at something like teaching english than in other countries.
Before making my decision to take a gap year, I talked to a lot of people about whether it was something that i wanted to do. It was an idea that had been playing around in my head since the beginning of junior year, but it took me until the end of senior year to make a definite decision. The vast majority of people i talked to said that it was a great option and many of them wished they had taken a year between highschool and college. My dad definitely wanted (and still wants) me to go straight to stanford. I think that he sees the gap year option as a good idea for students that are burnt out after highschool and not fully happy about going off to college. As I was neither of these things, he sees my gap year as an unecessary biding of time. So, although he made it clear that it was my decision, it was difficult to go against my dad's wishes, because I usually respect his opinions.
Despite this, I am satisfied with and excited about my choice. Although it is a little hard to watch all of my friends' pre-college preparations and think how different my year will be from their's, i can't wait to start!
So this turned out to be a longer post than I anticipated. I hope i didn't bore all of you.:)
Friday, August 21, 2009
HEY EVERYBODY!
The first day of Stanford, or within the first few days, or few weeks...SOON AFTER WE START FRESHMAN YEAR...let's have as many of us as possible meet up on campus. Even if only for lunch or something. I think it would be worth translating our virtual contact with each other for face-to-face. Otherwise, are we really going to individually go after one another to find out who that blogger/Facebook profile picture actually is in person?
We can always just swap stories!
Really, let's make this happen when the time comes closer.
Chris
We can always just swap stories!
Really, let's make this happen when the time comes closer.
Chris
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
To get the ball rolling
Here are some general questions just to get things started. (I don't mean to monopolize blogging, I'm just curious) Feel free to answer all, some, or none, either in a new blog post or in the comments section.
What will you be doing on your gap year?
Why a gap year?
Why Stanford?
Why did you choose the gap year you did?
General feelings? Excited? Nervous?
How have people reacted when you tell them you're choosing to take a gap year?
A better introduction
I thought I would introduce myself more thoroughly, since the two lines of information I previously provided were pretty lame compared to what everyone else has posted. I'll be living with a host family in Egypt (on the West Bank of the Suez Canal...my sister tells her friends I'm going to live on the West Bank, she just doesn't specify which one). While in Egypt, I'll continue studying Arabic in language classes, and I'll be enrolled at a high school there (which I imagine will be quite different from my U.S. school--I can't wait to take history classes, in particular). I also hope to do some form of service. My interest in Arabic began last summer, when I spend two months studying in Jordan, which was an amazing experience. I leave at the end of August and I get back at the end of June.
I can't wait to hear more about all of your experiences, whether they parallel mine or take a totally different path. To paraphrase the wise Bill and Ted, this is going to be a most excellent adventure.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Thanks!
Meredith, thanks for creating this blog! I love seeing ideas we could all benefit from transform into reality.
I'm Chris, currently working seven days a week at two jobs in Juneau, Alaska, where I've spent the past 7 summers visiting my mother here (I grew up and went to high school in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA). I was planning to WWOOF in South America for a while, but recently, since I have to buy groceries for myself here, my interest was rekindled because...buying healthy food cheaply is hard! Do I cut costs and buy the sketchy product, or pay extra for something guaranteed to be high quality? I want to learn more about food, because I'm realizing how little I know.
I'm also looking to learn more about radio stations, how they work, potentially intern for an independent station that plays good music? Know any radio internships?
And let me ask, too: who has an official or unofficial reading list for their gap year? If we could compile them in some way, it would be incredibly interesting.
Finally, I'm hoping to see if it's possible to work with/meet two authors I like, Douglas Hofstadter and/or William Upski Wimsatt. So I hope to contact them, see if I could find a place to stay near where they work, unofficially intern for them. It's a crazy long shot but worth a try.
I hope everyone's having a wonderful summer, and I'll see you next fall, but I'd better hear from you before then :]
I'm Chris, currently working seven days a week at two jobs in Juneau, Alaska, where I've spent the past 7 summers visiting my mother here (I grew up and went to high school in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA). I was planning to WWOOF in South America for a while, but recently, since I have to buy groceries for myself here, my interest was rekindled because...buying healthy food cheaply is hard! Do I cut costs and buy the sketchy product, or pay extra for something guaranteed to be high quality? I want to learn more about food, because I'm realizing how little I know.
I'm also looking to learn more about radio stations, how they work, potentially intern for an independent station that plays good music? Know any radio internships?
And let me ask, too: who has an official or unofficial reading list for their gap year? If we could compile them in some way, it would be incredibly interesting.
Finally, I'm hoping to see if it's possible to work with/meet two authors I like, Douglas Hofstadter and/or William Upski Wimsatt. So I hope to contact them, see if I could find a place to stay near where they work, unofficially intern for them. It's a crazy long shot but worth a try.
I hope everyone's having a wonderful summer, and I'll see you next fall, but I'd better hear from you before then :]
GREETINGS!
Hello, i'm Michelle from Singapore, a small island off the tip of Malaysia, if i viewed the correct profile, Chang Xing is from Singapore too! Hey, what are you up to now?
Well i could help you all with the blog template, see what i can come up with as i used to toy around with html codes a few years back. BUT, i really only learnt the basics, so don't expect much, and right now i cannot do any editing because i cant get access to the 'edit template' page.
So hint hint, Meredith? are you the administrator? Could you give me similar administrator access? BUT, once again, i may not be very free to do any changes, cause i'm taking my gap year to complete my Officer Cadet Course as part of the Singapore Armed Forces. Hopefully i'll get to make the military my career!
Well i could help you all with the blog template, see what i can come up with as i used to toy around with html codes a few years back. BUT, i really only learnt the basics, so don't expect much, and right now i cannot do any editing because i cant get access to the 'edit template' page.
So hint hint, Meredith? are you the administrator? Could you give me similar administrator access? BUT, once again, i may not be very free to do any changes, cause i'm taking my gap year to complete my Officer Cadet Course as part of the Singapore Armed Forces. Hopefully i'll get to make the military my career!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Sorry if this is terrible... first blog ever...
Hey Everyone!
I'm Ali, and I'm from Palo Alto... sounds familiar, right? :) I'm going to be leaving August 30th for Nanyuki, Kenya to volunteer at an all-girls high school. I will be working as a teacher's aide, teaching dance classes, and running leadership and sports activities. I am SO excited and feel so blessed to have this opportunity. In mid-December I'll come home for Christmas and spend January with my family. In February I head off to Lombok, Indonesia to work at a kindergarten in a small village and live with a local family. I just started learning Bahasa Indonesia today! (I have Rosetta Stone AND awesome bootlegged "how to learn Indonesian" that US government officials use) Anyway, I come home in May. After that, I am going to Georgia to work at a cancer lab for a month or so. Basically, I have an amazing year ahead of me, am absolutely THRILLED to be going to Stanford (my absolute dream school), and really hope to hear about all of the other gap year student adventures!
Go Cardinal!
Ali
The experiment begins...
Some of us have already embarked on our gap year adventures, others are eagerly anticipating the start of the journey. Regardless, this blog has been created as a way for us to connect and learn about the individual paths we've chosen to take between high school and Stanford. Maybe it will be full of dynamic and lively discussion, maybe it will fizzle out after a few months, but I for one am very curious to hear what my future classmates are up to.
So, introductions: I'm Meredith, I'm from Colorado (and obnoxiously proud of it) and I will be spending my gap year (August 2009 to June 2010) in Egypt studying Arabic.
Class of 2014, what's your story?
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