The Campus Y at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has selected the 2013-2014 Global Gap Year Fellowship recipients. The fellowship provides financial support for seven incoming first-year students who are admitted for fall 2013 under the early action process. These students are deferring enrollment for one year to gain a global education that combines volunteer service, work and international travel. The fellowship, awarded on a competitive basis, provides up to $7,500 for each recipient to use toward travel, living expenses and other associated costs. This year’s fellows were selected from a pool of 55 applicants.
The Campus Y at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has selected the 2013-2014 Global Gap Year Fellowship recipients. The fellowship provides financial support for seven incoming first-year students who are admitted for fall 2013 under the early action process. These students are deferring enrollment for one year to gain a global education that combines volunteer service, work and international travel. The fellowship, awarded on a competitive basis, provides up to $7,500 for each recipient to use toward travel, living expenses and other associated costs. This year’s fellows were selected from a pool of 55 applicants.
The program, launched in 2011, was made possible by an anonymous gift of $1.5 million to the Campus Y and supports students who would not otherwise be able to fund their service work. The Campus Y works with UNC’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Center for Global Initiatives to select a diverse group of students who will spend a minimum of six months enhancing their leadership skills, developing respect for a diversity of cultures and gaining an understanding of what it means to be a global citizen.
RECIPIENTS BY N.C. COUNTY:
Forsyth
Kalli Bunch of Winston-Salem graduated from Atkins Academic and Technology High School as valedictorian. She plans to spend her gap year working with Carolina for Kibera to combat poverty in Kenya and improving the infrastructure in Argentina.
Guilford
Danny Hage of Colfax graduated from Northwest Guilford High School. During his gap year, Hage will partner with an environmental conservation organization in Ecuador, volunteer with a public health organization in West Africa and work with Burmese refugees on the Burma/Thailand border.
Mecklenburg
Brady Gilliam of Charlotte graduated from Myers Park High School. Gilliam will spend a year working in Thailand and Madagascar. In Thailand, he will teach English to Buddhist monks through the nonprofit ATMA SEVA and live as a guest in their monastery. In Madagascar, he will work as an English teacher’s assistant through Mada Clinics.
Natalia Lutterman of Charlotte graduated from Myers Park High School. Lutterman plans to partner with a documentary film crew based in Indonesia and the Philippines to capture the work of the Blacksmith Institute, an international nonprofit dedicated to solving pollution problems in low- and middle-income countries. Lutterman also plans to help children of imprisoned parents in Nepal and work on sustainable development projects in Morocco.
Orange
Kristen Lee of Chapel Hill graduated from Carrboro High School. Lee is combining her Global Gap Year Fellowship with support from Global Citizen Year and will live in Brazil.
Elsa Steiner of Chapel Hill graduated from East Chapel Hill High School. Steiner will work at FANA, the Foundation for Support of Abandoned Children in Colombia. She also will live in Switzerland and help the refugee population from countries in Africa and Asia.
Pender
Anna Brodmerkel of Burgaw graduated from Heide Trask Senior High School. She will spend the year in several parts of the world. In Greece, Brodmerkel will volunteer with the Katelios Group loggerhead sea turtle conservation project. She also will help increase literacy among disadvantaged children in India, work with an organic farm in New Zealand and volunteer in South Africa.
UNC-Chapel Hill Global Gap Year Fellowship background: http://campus-y.unc.edu/get-involved/global-programs/gap-year or http://www.admissions.unc.edu/globalgap/
Campus Y Contact: Richard Harrill, (919) 962-7535, rharrill@email.unc.edu
Global Gap Year Fellowship contact: Jakelin Bonilla, (919) 843-4521, globalgap@unc.edu
Media Contact: Leslie King, Communications, Campus Y, (919) 962-2333, leslie.t.king70@gmail.com