Be a Global Citizen — For a Year and Beyond

Gap years are not a common phenomenon in the U.S., but increasingly American teenagers are considering alternative options pre-college and seeking opportunities to expand their horizons before committing to particular universities or majors. Now in its second year, Global Citizen Year provides exciting opportunities for cultural immersion in countries such as Brazil, Senegal and Ecuador, with ...

By , the founder and managing partner of FutureMap.

Gap years are not a common phenomenon in the U.S., but increasingly American teenagers are considering alternative options pre-college and seeking opportunities to expand their horizons before committing to particular universities or majors. Now in its second year, Global Citizen Year provides exciting opportunities for cultural immersion in countries such as Brazil, Senegal and Ecuador, with more options to be added in coming years. After a multi-week bootcamp focusing on entrepreneurship and culture, GCY apprentices embed themselves in rural communities and carry out year-long projects in fields such as health, education, environment and technology. Here are some examples of GCY apprentices at work:

Gap years are not a common phenomenon in the U.S., but increasingly American teenagers are considering alternative options pre-college and seeking opportunities to expand their horizons before committing to particular universities or majors. Now in its second year, Global Citizen Year provides exciting opportunities for cultural immersion in countries such as Brazil, Senegal and Ecuador, with more options to be added in coming years. After a multi-week bootcamp focusing on entrepreneurship and culture, GCY apprentices embed themselves in rural communities and carry out year-long projects in fields such as health, education, environment and technology. Here are some examples of GCY apprentices at work:

Mariela discusses her work on installing and mapping wooden cooking stoves in Brazil:

Naomi Wright and Madeleine Balchan cook a traditional meal from raw fish in Senegal:

Michael Stivers, currently in the Salvador/Bahia region of Brazil, discusses activism with his host:

Peter Saudek shows us inside a classroom using computers for the first time in Ecuador:

Parag Khanna is the founder and managing partner of FutureMap. His most recent book is MOVE: The Forces Uprooting Us. Twitter: @paragkhanna

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