How does the Global Gap Year Fellowship align with what you hope to accomplish at Carolina?
I have always had a passion for helping others. I sincerely feel like my life will be complete when I have made a difference in someone else’s life. All my teachers told me that I should be a teacher because I do well in my English and history classes. However, as much as I admire the work that my teachers do, teaching as a career doesn’t call to me the way I feel a potential career should. I enjoy working at my farmer’s markets during the year and for a while I thought majoring in business would be a good option. My mother always tells me that the best job a person can have is the one where they work for themselves. The more I thought about the farmer’s market, the more I realized that it wasn’t the owning my own business aspect that I was attracted to. The part that I loved the most was helping the customers. Countless number of people have thanked me for all my hard work and help that I demonstrate at the market. I always tell them that I do it because I enjoy to do it not because it’s part of the job. I started a service project known as “Farmers Feeding Friends.” The week that I got into Carolina I must have gotten over a hundred genuine congratulations from my loyal customers. I began to think about possible careers that would allow me to utilize the parts of the farmers market that I enjoyed most, helping others and working with people. The birth of my nephew finally helped me to finalize my future career plan: nursing. Nursing seems almost the exact opposite of selling vegetables, however, nursing is a job that would allow me to help others all day long while also allowing me to maintain relationships with patients and co-workers. The field of nursing that I am especially interested in is Labor and Delivery. The gap year fellowship aligns with this plan to major in nursing because the fellowship would present me with a whole year to pursue my passion for helping others. I would be able to work with organizations that focus specifically on the prenatal care of women and children. Gaining firsthand experience from professionals in other countries would allow me to have an advantage in my nursing classes and working environment. I would utilize the skills I learned working with healthcare professionals, children, and families not only in life but also in my career as well. The Gap Year Fellowship also aligns with what I intend to accomplish at Carolina because I hope to join the Peace Corp after I graduate. I would like to utilize my nursing degree to join the medical program that the Peace Corp offers. The Gap Year Fellowship offers a great opportunity to have a similar experience as the Peace Corp. There are numerous clubs and activities that I will be excited to join after my gap year. I know that the Gap Year Fellowship will teach me valuable lessons that would be rare to find in classroom settings. The issues I want to focus specifically on during my year off would be the health and well-being of pregnant women in countries that do not offer suitable healthcare, stopping violence against women, teaching and caring for disabled children, and building homes for families. My family has always been my biggest supporters throughout life and I would like to help other families as a result of this. When I go to Carolina, I would like to address these issues. My gap year will help me further understand what needs to be done in order to aid in fixing these issues. I would like to start programs that work to fundraise for these organizations. Global awareness of issues is key to fundamentally making a difference. During my Gap Year I will have a chance to work with children in need. I would also like to teach others how they can care for the disabled and start a program where Carolina students go into the local school districts and read and talk to disabled students and give them tours of the campus. Teri Garr Once said, “Take nothing for granted because the real disability in life is people who can’t find joy and are bitter.” If I could bring joy into someone else’s life like so many people have brought into mine, then I would know that I was successful during my Gap Year Fellowship and during my years at Carolina.
Local Community Engagement *
Describe an issue you are passionate about and how you engaged with the topic in high school.

When I was in the seventh grade, my biological father was laid off. My mother was a second year teacher in North Carolina who did not have her paycheck spread throughout the year. We had no money; it was a crisis. We grew vegetables, blueberries and raised chickens. This was the summer we began our farmer's market. This was the summer when summers became long, hot days working outside; when Tuesdays and Fridays meant strenuous picking and loading trucks; when Wednesdays and Saturdays meant work began at 4:30 a.m. It was the summer when we learned that there were no longer weekends off or summer vacations .It was the summer I began to learn the value of hard work. Our market runs from April through February. We began with two tables and it was small affair. At 15 I had my own stand and I began a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that at the close of the season held 150 members. I have done my best to balance athletics, clubs, academics, and friendships while operating a market and knowing my primary responsibility is feeding families. After every late Friday night football game that I cheered, there was always an early Saturday market, and for every final exam there was always late night studying, followed by morning chores and school. I once resented these farmer’s markets. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t be like a normal kid who only had to worry about pimples rather than knowing that adding sawdust to soil will help blueberry bushes grow. However, promoting a healthy lifestyle by growing and selling fresh, organic fruits and vegetables has become one of my passions. I have been doing the markets for seven years now. Every week I enjoy meeting our customers and helping them pick out healthy foods for them to eat. Eating healthy and supporting local farmers is something I am passionate about because I believe that a healthy lifestyle is necessary to maintain a healthy life. I also believe that people deserve to know what they put into their bodies and where that food comes from. People supporting local farmers has helped my family tremendously and I would like people to support farmers everywhere. For the past two years, I have done nutrition classes at the high school. I started the nutrition class for my cheerleading team. We condition all the time, but not many people realize that eating fresh foods effects an athlete’s overall health and performance. I have also incorporated my passion for healthy eating by drafting a plan for a “Farm to School” program in our County. In this program local farmers would be sought out to provide bulk vegetables and fruits to the school for lunch and breakfast. I am in the process of submitting my plan to the Gates County Board of Education.

Global Service-Learning *
The unique aspect of the Global Gap Year Fellowship is that it is self-designed. We encourage students to explore organizations that they would like to work with on their gap year. Please identify organizations and elaborate on what kind of service you would do with this organization. Note: You will NOT be tied to your responses if you are selected for the Fellowship.

There are specifically three organizations I would like to work with during the gap year. The first organization is the Society for Nutrition, Education, and Health Action. This organization is based out of Mumbai, India. SNEHA is a non-profit organization where their goals are to eliminate violence and discrimination against women and girls, ensure health and wellbeing of women and girls, recognize violence as a public concern, and promote equality and empowerment of women and girls. The program also adopts a multi-pronged, pro woman approach with women and children survivors of violence. The SNEHA is an organization that I would be excited to serve because the work that they do ties in directly with what I hope to do with my future career as a nurse. It is important to have a solid foundation in order to achieve success. The second organization I would like to work with is “Friends for Asia: Children with Disabilities Volunteer Project.” With “Friends for Asia” I would have the chance to work in Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal or Bali. I would personally enjoy traveling to Bali. When working with children who suffer from disabilities I would be assisting them with their medical needs, teaching them, and most of all providing love and support that they might not be exposed to on a daily basis. I feel that volunteering with disabled children also ties in with the SNEHA organization because both require working with children and learning about different medical tactics. The next volunteer group that I am interested and working with during the Gap Year Fellowship is the “Habitat para la Humanidad” in Argentina. I specifically chose Argentina because they have an excellent gap year program and the opportunity to expand my Spanish vocabulary will help me in my future career. I have worked with Habitat for Humanity twice. Once in South Carolina and once in Georgia. The experience was life-altering. My friends and I spent a week constructing the frame of a house and got to meet with the lady who would be living in the house. One thing I love about Habitat for Humanity is that they constantly remind people that they are a “hand up not a hand out.” This means that the organization only helps people who are willing to help themselves. In order to qualify for the program you have to take finance classes along with put in at least 100 hours of volunteer work on your own home. I would love to work with Habitat for Humanity overseas because I would be able to help families receive homes in areas that do not have adequate housing. They say that home is where the heart is and I would love for my heart (and various other muscles) to build homes for people in need.
Cross-Cultural Interaction *
Cross-cultural interaction promotes mutual understanding among different cultures. Fellows develop cross-cultural understanding through their service in communities. What do you hope to learn from your immersion, and in turn, what do you hope they learn from you?

Traveling is something that I hope I do for the rest of my life. I have always experienced wanderlust and wanted a chance to experience other cultures. Both of my grandparents were in the foreign services. I grew up listening to stories about other countries and the places that my grandparents had been to. These stories always fascinated me and made me want to have similar experiences. My mom and I had already discussed me taking a gap year before I started college. The day that I got the email from UNC explaining the Gap Year Fellowship I knew that this was a program I wanted to participate in. During the Gap Year Fellowship I hope I learn about many different cultures. I want my immersion to result in a major culture shock. I want to learn what it is like on the other side of the world and I want to learn what I can do to make a difference. I realize that in my life I have been blessed to receive all that I have and I would like to be given an opportunity to work in communities that are not as fortunate as I have been in my life. I also hope I will be able to gain valuable training working with women, children, and families that will aid me in my future career as a nurse. I want to learn what it means to be a role model and live my life by serving others. I want to learn these qualities from people who have dedicated their lives by doing the same. I know that my life will truly be filled once I have made a difference in someone else’s life. As a human being, I feel like I have an obligation to put the resources available to me for good use. The Gap Year Fellowship will teach me lessons on patience, love, understanding, and kindness. I hope my immersion results in learning that these characteristics are universal. I want to gain a better understanding of the world. In return, I hope that I teach the people I meet about hard work. I hope they learn that there are still good people in the world who are willing to help others. In today’ time, the world is faced with numerous threats that many could never imagine. War, hunger, drought, natural disasters, terrorism, disease, and violence. These are issues that should be addressed every day. These are issues that humans should be working hard to overcome. When I embark on my Gap Year Fellowship I want others to learn that I, along with numerous other gap year fellows and volunteers, are doing whatever we can to make a difference in the world.
Challenging Situations *
Doing service abroad offers unique challenges. What is the most difficult situation you have faced and how did you tackle it?

I love to cheerlead. When I was in ninth grade I made the JV squad and so did five of my friends. That year on the team was amazing. Everyone commented on how much the cheerleading team had improved. The coaches even told us that JV was better than varsity! My friends and I were all sure that when tryouts rolled around next year, we would all make varsity. Varsity meant Friday night games, better cheers, dangerous stunts, and cuter uniforms. That year at tryouts I was fully confident in my abilities. I performed all the tryout cheers to perfection, didn’t miss a beat in the dance, and was fully prepared to do any jump, stunt, or tumble that they called my way. After every girl had tried out the coaches called all of us into the gym to tell us who made each squad. I wasn’t worried. I watched as each of my friends screamed in delight as their name was called for the varsity squad. I still wasn’t worried. Finally, they announced the JV squad. My blood froze. I was sure they had made a mistake, but the pitying looks on each girls face assured me of my worst fear: I had made JV again and everybody else had moved up. I considered quitting. I was beyond embarrassed. I asked myself what was wrong with me. Was I not as good as I thought? My friends were all really nice, but I didn’t want to ruin their happy moment with my disappointing one. I was the only returning girl on the JV team and I was the only sophomore. I was furious at my coaches for doing this to me. I decided that I was going to rebel against their decision. When practice started I was wickedly mean to all the freshman girls. I didn’t smile at games and I definitely didn’t show spirit. One day at practice my coach pulled me aside and asked me if I wanted to stay on the team. I broke down crying. I told her everything that I had been feeling since I made the team. My coach listened carefully and then finally told me something that I would carry with me the rest of the season: “The reason we didn’t put you on Varsity wasn’t because of your talent or your ability. You are a star, Michelle, and when you do something you love you shine. We put you back on JV because out of all the other girls you were the best leader.” I came to respect their decision and decided to make the best of my situation. Even though not making the varsity squad my sophomore year was one of the most difficult situations I have ever faced, I learned to tackle it with pride and leadership.