Olivia's Story

I had the idea in my junior year of high school. I didn't know what I was interested in. I mean, for a lot of people, I felt like they knew that they wanted to go to college. And I had another idea that I didn't know was another path for me. And so I thought of taking a gap year and not continuing my education right after high school.
I really wanted to go to Thailand. I feel like something just sparked it in me. Second semester of my gap year, I went in the beginning of the pandemic. So I went with a program called ARCC Gap Year, and I went with a group and yeah, it was an amazing experience. I do have a special needs sister that makes it kind of challenging to travel. So I never went on really extravagant. vacations. I've only kind of stuck around like the New England area when we travel as a family. And so I think this was a big step for me being away from my family for the first time. And I think it was like the first ever like brave act that I've ever done in my life, especially at like a young age, I think I was 19. You kind of like put a lot of trust in yourself when you're traveling too. And like, since I went with a group, relying on those people that you're traveling with. I did have challenges with health problems a little bit so being able to speak your needs to the group and making sure that you're well, and you're taken into account for.
I think I always knew that I wanted to do something that helped people in a way. But I didn't know exactly how I wanted that to look for me. When I went overseas, it translated there too. When I was in a different culture, being with a group especially, I found my sense of community with them and being able to trust them too along this journey and we're all there for like the same situation and same experience too like making memories and experiencing a different culture. And like learning along the way, like learning about a different culture. Yeah, so I think that really translated to when I was overseas.
And yeah, I'm really glad I took that initiative to take that leap of faith too, especially. And I mean, I got so much opinions on my, what I was gonna do after high school and especially going out of like the norm of like not going to college right after high school. I got a lot of criticism, especially from family members too, about it. But I knew like within myself that I was doing the best thing for me and that, you only live one life and I think that you should experience all the things you want to experience in this life because you'd never know when a pandemic is going to hit!