by Roger Burtonpatel As each Fellow moves through their journey, they’re confronted by a slew of day-to-day encounters and oddities, each tucked away as a memory-a portion of the physical voyage we’re on our ways through. A gorgeous bunch of natural flowers with unfamiliar scents, particularly haggle-y street vendor in […]

Curling Up and Flying Away

By Silas Conlon In a new place, I find myself fixating on even the littlest events as wins or losses. Noting a small victory is the most encouraging part of life here, no matter how small. Redefining my idea of success was a source of the never ending culture shock […]

Success is Made of Small Victories

by Calvin Zhao, First-Year Global Programs Coordinator Drinking Ataya with host families, visiting community organizations, navigating through bustling local markets…here are seven highlights (in chronological order) from my site-visit to our newest Civic Semester location: Thiès, Senegal! I looked across the Atlantic Ocean – from a different vantage point. My […]

My Visit to Thiès

By Cher Xiong Standing upon a simple yet elegant mansion, I was awed when I first saw how architects were able to transform white walls and wide pane glasses into such an aesthetic building. Walking through the rows of mansions by the lake, I always admired the modern houses the […]

The Modern Architecture Pandemic

By Madeleine Hallen Being from a small town, the longest daily commute I had faced was the ten-minute bus ride to school in junior high. Now, my daily commute involves two buses and over two hours round trip to and from my internship. When I first began riding the bus […]

Connections on the Commute

By Kaylee Chang I don’t think I quite thought through the omnipresence of language in everyday life until I faced the language barrier in Ecuador. Even though English is technically my second language, by the time I was 5 it surpassed my level of Chinese proficiency (which on the other […]

A Silver Lining in Feeling Stupider