“What you hold on to you lose. What you give away you can never run out of…. You never fully grasp the fruits of your education until you give it away to another.” –Father Michael Himes A year and a half ago I sat at Fenway Park with my family and 20,000 other students, alumni…

11 April, 2014

I am from a small coastal town in New England. When I think of my childhood one of the first things that comes to mind is the ocean — days spent on the beach or fishing on our family boat. My whole life has somewhat been shaped by the ocean and I consider it my rock. The salty cool…

03 February, 2014

If there were one word to describe my bridge year experience so far it would be overwhelming. Adjusting to a new family, job, language, food, climate, and way of life has been incredibly difficult. The continuous highs and lows  I experience make me feel like I’m constantly on a roller coaster. The love and support…

02 December, 2013

Spanish words fill my ears, dust swirls around my legs, and the colors of Ecuador spin around me as my blue eyes soaks in each one of them. Every day I am awakened by the screaming roosters 10 feet from my door, followed by the rest of the chickens and dogs communicating throughout my small town. I wake up…

22 October, 2013

Well, I got lost. It was bound to happen living in city I don’t know and struggling to speak the language. I decided to trust my instincts and hop on the bus assuming it would just take me home. As I started to recognize less and less and lost sight of Pichincha, my landmark, I knew I was in…

13 September, 2013

My name is Abbie Clavin, and I have just graduated from The Governor’s Academy, the oldest and one of the most traditional boarding schools in the country. This being said, deciding to take a bridge year was not exactly easy. While all my friends and classmates were filling out roommate forms and picking their classes, I was researching my…

17 July, 2013