Where are they now? Chapel Hill grads take gap years

Emery Harwell mounts new challenges in Ecuador

Emery Harwell, Class of 2015

I decided to take a gap year last March. I had only applied to Global Citizen Year three months before and had no clue if I even wanted to take a gap year after high school. Now, six months into my Ecuadorean immersion, I can confirm the cliché and say that taking a gap year is without a doubt the best decision I have made in my 18 years of life.

This year I have been challenged in ways I never would have been in college. I have been challenged to be curious about a different culture, instead of judgemental. I have learned to adapt to a radically different lifestyle than I was previously used to. My Spanish has improved to the point of uency. I am now totally comfortable with the ambiguity of life and not knowing what I am going to be doing next month, next week or even later today.

In Ecuador I have gained many new identities. I’m a farmer. I spend my days herding sheep and feeding pigs and cows and planting cabbage, radish and lettuce. I wash my clothes in a river and sell vegetables at the market. I am an older brother of ve instead of two. I am a representative of the United States, of North Carolina, of Chapel Hill.

Global Citizen Year has been a special experience for me, and I encourage anyone even slightly interested in a gap year to apply. If this program is not totally your style, I still encourage you to find an experience that takes you out of your comfort zone. If you want to talk to me more, slide into my DMs (@emeryharwell) and we can have an awesome conversation about why all of you should take a gap year.

Hugh Kelley enjoys the outdoors of South Africa

Hugh Kelley, Class of 2015

If you follow me on Instagram (@hugh_bacca), then I am sure you have seen a great deal of what I have been up to for the last few months, but here are just a quick few words to sum it up.

From August until late December, I was living in Cape Town, South Africa for the rst half of my gap year. For three days a week, I was working as a social work intern at the Christel House, a school that takes kids out of the lowest income households in Cape Town and gives them a free education. Other than that, I was just having a blast and living the ultimate Cape Town lifestyle.

Being the outdoorsy adventurous person that I am, it was the perfect place for me. In the constant gorgeous weather, I was able to hike the four mountains that surround the city all the time: Table Mountain, Lion’s Head, Devils Peak and Signal Hill.

I braved the waters and was able to pick up surfing. I went to Muizenberg Beach—just outside the city—constantly to catch some waves, despite South Africa being the great white shark capital of the world. Multiple times a week, I would hike Signal Hill at dusk with a group of friends to watch a stunning sunset dip behind the horizon of the Atlantic Ocean.

In Cape Town, there is absolutely no shortage of adventure and there are amazing things to do and see. I definitely learned a lot and had a great deal of fun at the same time. I took full advantage of what the city and country had to offer, and it made the first half of my gap year special.