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I’m Ready

Hello Everyone! My name is Aissatou, and I am more than thrilled to spend the upcoming eight months learning somewhere other than a boring classroom. To start, here are a few random facts about me: I enjoy sunbathing much more than the average person, I’m always listening to music, I buy the majority of my clothes from thrift stores, I can quote almost every line from the movie School of Rock, and for high school I attended St. Paul’s School, a boarding school where students are required to do horrible things like attend class at 8 on Saturday mornings.

For me, the decision to take a gap year was an easy one. My high school days were filled with an endless supply of work, and I spent the majority of my time stressing out and dreading the next inevitable essay assignment. My first break from this monotonous academic life came in the 11th grade when I spent the school year living with a host family in China through the program School Year Abroad. My time in China was an unbelievable adventure, and I learned an immeasurable amount about the world around me, and surprisingly also about myself. When I returned to the U.S. for my senior year I could not wait for the opportunity to escape from boring old America again, and it became clear to me that I was not quite energized to continue my vigorous academic life in college. Well, at least not without a trip to the real world first, and this is how Global Citizen Year and I came to be.

Now, here I am with less than 50 days until I embark on this amazing experience. I am ready to take my French skills further than my ability to conjugate verbs on a sheet. I am ready to not think about how I will retain my sanity through the harsh New England winter. I am ready to experience the world’s problems; not just read about them. I am ready to live in a place where people will not struggle to pronounce my name. I am ready for Senegal.

Aissatou Barrie-Rose

About Aissatou Barrie-Rose


Aissatou has a passion for traveling and language. She is head of the Student Cultural Alliance at her school, and also participates in the Gay-Straight Alliance and Relationships and Sex discussion groups, leading to her interest in human rights. Her life goals are to become fluent in six different languages and travel through most of the non-European world.

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