January 25, 2026
By: Camey VanSant
By Jett While I live a four-hour drive from the Canadian border, the first country I visited outside the United States was one of the geographically farthest from my home. My gap year has illustrated how academic interests can take...
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December 30, 2025
By: Camey VanSant
By Samuel I went to Belém to participate in COP30. For 3 weeks, I had the pleasure of volunteering in operational support for the negotiation rooms. With a letter arriving just a few weeks before the event started, I had...
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December 21, 2025
By: Camey VanSant
By Isaiah “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.” This oft-quoted saying pretty much sums up what I, and many others, thought a gap year would be about. I’m Isaiah/Heesung, and this is the story of how three...
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December 17, 2025
By: Camey VanSant
By Jose I stepped into my first day on the job and I was welcomed by a kiss. “What was that?!” La Base is a foundation that loans out funds to other cooperatives in Argentina, while supporting self-management in co-ops,...
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November 15, 2025
By: Camey VanSant
By Jake At 6:00 a.m., New York City is still waking up, the streets in my neighborhood empty. I lace my running shoes, knowing that in a few hours I’ll be working with students at The Shefa School and later...
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November 7, 2025
By: Camey VanSant
By Samuel It’s already been five months of my gap year, and if there’s one thing that’s been drilled into my mind, it’s the idea that I’m really not in control of anything. Sometimes that thought comes almost as a...
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September 5, 2025
By: Camey VanSant
By Gregory Beginning this past September, I took on the position as the advisor for the East Regional Club for the North Carolina American Red Cross Youth (also written as “RCC East”), helping develop new leaders within the club’s executive...
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August 26, 2025
By: Camey VanSant
By Ian No matter how much you plan, while traveling, things can always get off track. This was the case at the beginning of my travels through Europe. Before I left home, I entered two piano competitions through Grand Prize...
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August 15, 2025
By: Camey VanSant
By Marissa I arrived in Turkey mid-September to begin my exchange with AFS intercultural programs. Living and studying here for the past 10 months has been an incredibly rewarding experience full of little adventures and unexpected moments. I’m excited to...
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August 13, 2025
By: Camey VanSant
By Sanjaay In the first two parts of my blog series on happiness, I wrote about my hiking trip in Nepal and my exploration into Nordic happiness policies in Finland, Sweden and Denmark. The first essay explored the pursuit of...
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