author avatar

Trina Olsen

Trina is passionate about public health, women's health, human rights, and affordability of higher education. In high school, Trina co-founded and led a club designed to educate her fellow students about sexual and reproductive health. She was also a Teen Educator, working with doctors and teens to bridge their communication gap. During her junior year of high school, she also enjoyed working with students in a special education math class. Her goals for her bridge year are to learn how to love and laugh during a challenging time, discover a new culture and learn Spanish. Trina is inspired by lyrics from "American Girl" by Tom Petty: "She couldn't help thinking' that there was a little more to life, somewhere else, after all it was a great big world with lots of places to run to".

SUBSCRIBE

Coming home

Trina Olsen

2016-05-30

I’ve been home from Ecuador for about a month and a half now. Being home, I’ve realized how much it’s changed my life. Before living in Ecuador, I had lived in the same place all my life. Now, I have this experience living in another world. I find myself constantly thinking about the differences between...

Read More

Understanding

Trina Olsen

2016-04-27

Last week was Semana Santa, or Holy Week. My little sister had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off from school. My host parents went to mass at night during the week instead of just on Sunday morning. On Thursday, after coming home from the tia’s (aunt’s) house at around 9:30, my whole host family (except my...

Read More

Viva Carnaval

Trina Olsen

2016-02-24

Two Saturdays ago, I took the bus up to the town of El Valle, about 10 minutes away from my house. Deema, a friend and fellow in Global Citizen Year,  lives there with her host family. We met up in El Valle to go watch what we thought would be a fun, but more or...

Read More

3 Months in Ecuador

Trina Olsen

2015-11-29

Hi friends and family and anyone else reading this blog! I have now been in Ecuador for exactly three months. Sorry I’ve been a little slow at posting an actual blog about being in Ecuador. There’s no way I can catch you up on everything that’s happened, but I’ll let you know where I’m a...

Read More

Choice and Belonging

Trina Olsen

2015-10-06

I wrote this blog two days before I left for Ecuador, but didn’t feel ready to post it yet. Now, it is October 5th and I feel ready to share it. Finding and choosing where you belong after high school is difficult. For my entire life, the place I’ve spent the majority of my time...

Read More

Making the Grade or Making a Difference

Trina Olsen

2015-08-25

This is a slightly adapted essay I wrote during my first semester of senior year, in a class called Advanced Writing Workshop. I thought it would shed light into my reasons for pursuing a bridge year. Walking down the fluorescently lit hallway of West High School between classes, my chest and stomach feel tight. I...

Read More