I was so afraid that leaving St. Andrew's would mean saying goodbye to everything I'd come to love, but I've found that at Williams all those things are available if you know the right places to look. I'm taking unbelievable classes; the Berkshires are stunning, and the school places tremendous emphasis on community and connection. There are clubs for everything--so many that I had a hard time choosing what I wanted to do in the first few weeks of school--and there is such a range of talent in the student body. I've met poets, opera singers, actors, rock climbers, people who can quote Homer verbatim, dancers, extraordinary athletes, jazz musicians, etc . . . and I'm sure that's not nearly the extent of what people here can do. I love the friends I've made (they actually remind me of the friends I had at SAS) and it's been really easy to stay in touch with old friends as well. I was also so afraid that I'd never again be able to befriend my teachers, but last week I had coffee with my English professor, and I went to my poli-sci professor's office hours this morning. It's different from St. Andrew's, but in ways that will stretch rather than limit my ability to enjoy my college experience. St. Andrew's prepares students so well for places like this. I felt instantly a part of the Williams community, and as a result I was able to start enjoying my time here right away. Of course I miss St. Andrew's dearly, but I know I'll be back, and it will remain an invaluable touchstone for me, no matter where I am in life.

I decided to take a Gap Year because I felt a needed to take a breath before college. I wanted some time to travel, explore, volunteer, and do all the things I rarely had time to at St. Andrew's. In the past month I've studied Spanish in Buenos Aires, seen the best tango in the world, volunteered in one of the poorest areas of Argentina, taken a bike tour of Mendoza, and gone horseback riding with a gaucho in the Andes. In the next eight months, I will hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, volunteer in a health clinic in Cuzco, live with a Peruvian family, work at an elephant-back safari company, backpack for a month through the Indian Himalayas, and explore Europe with friends from SAS. Come fall, I will head to college with renewed energy and enthusiasm, and a better understanding of myself and my place within the global community.

I worked this summer and into September at a poolside restaurant at home to make some money and then I finally settled on a program in New Zealand for this fall. I arrived less than a week ago and already I love it. I am working for a man who runs a program called Global Entrepreneurship Week (www.unleashingideas.org/newzealand); it is an international event in late November that is geared towards inspiring people to innovate, create, and take the leap that leads them to become an entrepreneur. My work is very much in the line of networking, marketing, and business. I actually have only had two days of work, so I am not positive what I am going to be doing, but I have high hopes. On my first day I was taken to meet Sam Morgan, the head of TradeMe (New Zealand Ebay), the head of the NZ Post, and the head of one of the universities! Other than that, the weekends are free to do as we please!

Attending the French Culinary Institute is a rush. I never thought I would get as close to cutting edge cooking as I am now. When applying, I thought I was just going to learn how to cook better and possibly pickup some professional kitchen experience. That is only the beginning of my experience. The program I am attending prepares students for the high-end culinary world. Whether your dreams are to start up your own restaurant or to work at world famous kitchens around the world, this is where you go to achieve it. There are also so many connections with The Food Network as FCI has alumni such as Bobby Flay, Donatella Arpaia, and Daisy Martinez. I also have the privilege of working under world-revered Chef Rogers Powell. Every other day, I get the chance to speak with our school's deans, Jacques Pepin and Alain Sailhac, as they stroll through the classrooms to mingle with the students. The great thing about FCI is that they give you the foundation in cooking and give you basically every opportunity to pursue your own educational experience with optional demonstrations, volunteer opportunities in high-end culinary events, and possible internships at restaurants like Per Se (NY's premiere French restaurant), The French Laundry, Gramercy Tavern, and The Union Square Cafe to name a few. NYC is also the perfect place for someone to design a valuable experience. The opportunities are endless and the inspiration is everywhere around you. The city also has a lot of distractions, but it's also a valuable experience to learn how to avoid those distractions. Now, I don't want anyone to get the idea that what I'm doing is easy because I was a little thrown off by how rigorous the program is.  I just passed Level 1 which is the first month of 6 and I must say it was one of the most tiring months. I have a pretty lengthy commute in the morning so I have to wake up early every morning (around 5-6am) I arrive at school around 7:30 and prep for the lesson (not including the homework which I do the night before.) At around 9am, my instructor starts the lecture and demonstration and then we cook classic French recipes such as Duck Confit, Poisson Papillote, Salade Nicoise, etc.  There is a short lunch break at noon for about 30 minutes (which is usually spent re-studying notes and prepping.)  Then it's back to the fast-paced cooking until 3p.m.  Almost every day, there is a demonstration in the school's theatre with world famous chef's teaching their special techniques.  This can be anything from making Crème Fraiche with The Vermont Butter and Cheese Company to fish filets for sushi with The Gohan Society (a famous, traditional Japanese society dedicated to Japanese cuisine.)  My experience has built confidence for me.  Every day, I make something that I never thought I could make.  At the end of the day, it's so inspiring to realize that, if I needed to, I could make a living from what I'm doing right now.   But for now, it's simply an experience before college so I realize why I am going to college in the first place.  This is an experience that I would suggest for any student considering a gap year.

I am liking Emerson, it is really different than St. Andrew's but I love being in Boston... I'm RIGHT in the city. I'm really close to Sarah Anne McShan (Harvard) and Corrine (BC) so I've been hanging out with them a bunch. I actually went to the Red Sox game on Tuesday night with Corrine, which was amazing.

Right now I'm taking Evolution of Expression, Fundamentals of Speech Communication, Research Writing, and Introduction to Economics. My school is heavily focused on "Communications and the Arts" so we get through core requirements really easily.

I am in a suite with four other girls and my roommate is really sweet and easy to get along with. She is nothing like Peanut, my roommate at St. Andrew's of four years, but nothing can really compare to Katherine Belk.

I am playing music and taking 2 great music classes, so, as of now, I think I'll probably end up being a music major hopefully. Tons of interesting, creative people here; I am actually on the writing hall of my building, so I am surrounded by poets, slam-poets, creative-story writers, and just all sorts of people who write various things. So, I'm diggin' college for sure.

Things are going great out here. The transition was a little difficult at first but I'm getting used to life at Michigan so it's getting better. My roommate's pretty cool but I don't see him much, which is fine because there are plenty of people here so I've met entirely too many people already. All my classes have started now and the work is beginning to pick up but it doesn't look like it is going to be that bad. The classes are a lot different than St. Andrew's but I expected that so it hasn't been that bad going to lectures with 200 people for every class. Overall everything is going pretty well right now I'm trying out for the ultimate frisbee team so hopefully that will work out.

So far, classes are going well.  Currently, I am taking Electrodynamics (3301), Calc III (2043), English (902), and Java (1068).  Its kind of strange, but all of the courses are on a 1000 scale as opposed to a 100 scale.  Don't ask me why...  So far I think I am doing well in each class, but I am sure I'll be doing much better once I get into the swing of things.  Next semester, I want to take linear algebra, the next course in physics (3302), Mosaics I (a mandatory gen ed class), and Chinese.  There is a math elective that I have heard a lot of good things about that I may also take if I can fit it in.

I love being in the city.  My dorm is right on campus and is one block from the subway, so I go into center city all of the time. I am really looking forward to Experience Philly Day, which is coming up this Saturday.  Many museums are going to be free or discounted, so I am planning on going to either the Art Museum or the Mutter Museum with some friends.  So far, college life is treating me very well.  While I don't have a specific advisor, the Honors advisors are always willing to help with questions about things like courses and upcoming events. 

I am having a great time at Juniata. My roommate is fabulous and my floor is amazing!!! Classes are going great too. I am a business and arts production major and it has been a lot of fun. I get to do sound design for two plays that we are putting on this semester. Also I have to make commercials for clients around town as part of my arts production major. I also joined the rugby team and got a cool nickname. Now everybody on campus calls me "boot". Most people don't know my real name!!! I also scored the first point of the season this past Saturday!! It was very exciting!!!!

I have been thoroughly enjoying myself at Washington College and I highly recommend that more St. Andrews kids apply here.  This a diamond in the rough, and is completely underrated as a college.  The classes are small and engaging and will give you the same high quality education that I got out of St. Andrews, and they are very flexible fitting your schedule around your extra-curricular activities, such as a sports, art, student government, fraternities, etc.  The sports here are very good, very competitive, and lots of kids go out to see every sport or art show.  It’s an extremely diverse community, and most of the kids have a lot of the same values that the St. Andrews community has.  The campus is beautiful, small, and convenient to get around.  Chestertown in my eyes is very similar to Middletown, as it is small, on the river, and lots of activities to do on the water/in the town.  Living conditions here are pretty good; they just built two new dorms so they are pretty nice.  They just built a brand new arts center; the new dining hall is opening in October, so the campus looks great.  I hope this helps with getting more St. Andrews kids getting here.   I’m having a great time and I’m sure they would too.

I absolutely love Berkeley. The energy here is amazing. There are sooo many different kinds of people and so much going on. Two weeks ago there was a walk-out protesting the budget cuts in the UC system. It was so cool to experience activism first hand.

My classes are going really well. I realized after a few weeks that I really missed English (I didn't sign up for an English class this fall) but was able to join a DeCal (a class taught by a student) on "Constructing Female Identity through 20th century literature." It is reminding me so much of Ms. Matouk and my senior exhibition for one of the books we are reading is "The Wide Sargasso Sea" a sort of prequel to "Jane Eyre" (the book I did my exhibition on) and how Mr. Rochester's crazy wife Bertha Mason ends up in mad.

Lets see...other than that I have joined a bunch of clubs (habitat for humanity, ski and snowboard, surfing). I have found it so easy to meet people and get involved. At least once a day, usually when I'm walking down Sproul where all the clubs and organizations table, I can't help but smile and have an "I love Berkeley moment."

It is surprising, given that Berkeley is about 86 times (!!!) the size of St. Andrew's, that I am finding the transition to be so easy. In respect to work, I feel extremely prepared, especially in writing. I recently had to write a seven-page history paper and I was so much more confident in my abilities from all the training at SAS.

I think another reason I feel right at home at Berkeley is because it is similar to St. Andrew's in its discouragement of complacency and the passion people have on campus for learning as a means to better the world.

Sewanee is going great so far. I see Joe Garvey everyday and we're in the same group of friends so far, and Margot is in my English class. I had lunch with her today. I'm running cross-country and had a race this past weekend at Vanderbilt, which went quite well. The team is fun, and I like the coach. This weekend is parents' weekend, so my parents are starting the 10-hour drive on Thursday. I am looking forward to seeing them, and I know they are excited about meeting new parents. They've been pretty bummed that they won't be seeing my St. Andrew's friends and their parents as much anymore.  I'm really hoping to make it up for the Cannon game and the state cross country meet on Nov. 14, but I don't know if I will be able to or not because of a race I have earlier that day. A big hug to all!

I am enjoying Occidental but it is still culture shock from Delaware to Southern California. No more rain! I have been to the beach 3 times already and it just started getting cold here the other day, meaning less than 80 degrees! My classes are amazing, but I was so surprised at how easy the academic transition was. The rigor of St. Andrew's has finally paid off because I am almost always stress-free even though it’s still a load of work. I am playing on the women's rugby team and the frisbee team, which I am SO pumped about. I am more pumped about Rugby though just because it is so new and different than other things I've done. My new advisor is nothing like advisors at St. Andrew's (Mrs. Fritz I miss you!) but I guess it is time to be more of an adult and start to learn how to make decisions on your own. My favorite class is Intro to Neuroscience, which is the first class for a new major here called Psychobiology. The other day, my teacher brought in a human brain and a couple of kids held it in their hands. It's a lot of studying but definitely a very interesting field of study that I'm thinking about looking more into. I am also taking Economics, French, and then my Freshman Seminar class called The Unexamined Digital Life, which is a writing class for freshman. It is very different living in a city too. I miss the cornfields and the open space. It's been a while since I've been outside and not had someone visible in my eyesight. On the other hand though, it's nice to be able to get places. I have a bike that I ride to a lot of different restaurants and to do errands. Austin City Limits with Peanut Belk, Peter Brownlee, Donald Dimick, Ian Stabler, and Sam Patton was so refreshing. Everyone is friendly here and I have made some good friends, but it's nice to see people who just know you. Next time it has to be longer because it was just too painful leaving everyone after we had literally just seen each other.  I've been reading the emails that Mr. Roach sends out. I really miss it! It's true that you don't realize what you will miss about it until after its over. I didn't realize that it is truly one of the most unique special places. I talk to a lot of other kids who went to boarding school and what they describe is nothing like SAS.

I love Connecticut College. At first, I was really nervous about living with new people and how I would like it. I thought I would always be comparing it to SAS--and to a certain extent I do. However, at the same time, everything is so new and exciting. I like meeting new people and figuring out a completely new lifestyle. But I do think the transition into college was significantly easier for me because of SAS. I have found it very easy to relate to people here. They are very down to earth and it's hard to find someone who I don't get along with. We also have a very strict Honor code, which plays a similar role to the one at SAS. We have a "honor committee" and they take their job very seriously. Because of the honor code, we have self-scheduled exams, which I am excited about because hopefully I will be able to get for Christmas break a little early!

As far as classes go, I enjoy them, but I miss the relationship I used to have with the faculty at St. Andrew's. My goal for college is to get to know one teacher per semester to build a relationship similar to the ones from SAS. But in general, my experience with my classes has been great. I am taking Sociology, Chinese, Comparative Politics and my freshman seminar on Resilience. None of my classes are bigger than 25 and my Chinese class has 8 students--which is awesome! Right now, I think Sociology is my favorite class--the content is really interesting and our classes are engaging.

I am also swimming for Conn, which is incredible. I love the team and we haven't even started the real season. Right now, we have captains’ practices because we aren't allowed to start the season until Nov. 1. We have a bunch of team activities in the fall, which has been really helpful in getting to know a lot of the upper classmen. Once the season starts, we have doubles everyday and I am going to be exhausted, but I cannot wait. I'm really looking forward to improving and to race again.

I've been very busy with midterms and such. I'm fine thanks. I'm loving Yale so far! All my classes are going well. I'm taking General Chemistry, Chemistry Lab, Multivariable Calculus, French I and Introduction to Nanoscience. I've been doing intramural football and tennis. The transition into college life has been great. This year, I'm living in a suite with 3 other kids and we are all getting along very well. We are in a lot of the same classes so that is nice. I would say that the hardest thing to adjust to was the lenght of class periods. I know there was a lot of conversation about that at SAS last year. But it wasn't too bad. I'm used to it now. In all other respects, I feel that I was well prepared for college.

Here at Yale, we have the 12 colleges. Even though the school is pretty large, it's nice to have a small community that you belong to. Freshman year we don't live in our colleges. All the freshmen live together. But I go to my college everyday for meals, to speak to our Dean or Master, for library time, and for snacks. The smaller community reminds me of St. Andrew's.

Susie Gurzenda has limited access to the internet, so her mother Bonne Gurzenda has shared alittle bit on her experience in Tanzania.

Susie is very happy. She is in Tanzania working with Global Routes teaching English and Physics (www.globalroutes.org).  Teaching has been very challenging so far.  She teaches 7th grade classes of 60 some students and only about 5students per class are able to understand English to the level of the curriculum provided by the school.  Interestingly, she finds they seem to understand her physics classes better than her English classes.

Her host family is extremely warm and welcoming. Most of the family speaks very little English but her 15-year-old brother speaks a bit so he helpsher.  He wants her to improve her Swahili!  She said the family gave her the best accommodations in their home - her own room and bath room - so I think she feels pampered as she didn't expect to have even a pillow for3 months.  "Pampered" is of course a relative term as there is no indoor plumbing or electricity in the house, but she is unphased as she was prepared for this.   Although the village is remote and rustic, the beauty of the country strikes her and her home has a gorgeous view of the mountains.

On weekends she sometimes goes to the nearest city, Arusha, which is a 45 minute walk and a 20 minute bus ride away.  In Arusha, she meets with the other 11 interns in her program. They stay together at their supervisor's home and discuss their teaching experiences.  A highlight is when they are able to eat western food. Only 2 interns are assigned to each village and they don't send interns to the same village twice.  Susie has made great friends with Sophie, the other intern in her village.

The fundraising she did at home will be used for an independent project. Susie is so excited about this project!  Because she and theother intern, Sophie, are both interested in art, they are spearheading the painting of a world map on the wall of the school.  The headmaster wants the map to be on the entrance of the school so it can be seen right away as people approach.  Susie and Sophie are enlisting the help of students so the students will have pride in the project.  They needed to have the wall re-plastered and have ladders built before they can begin.  The wall of the school was in need of repair and they will be able to donate the ladders tothe school so they feel really good about the money they have raised going to agood cause and are hoping to engage the entire community in the project.

Now a word about something near and dear to Susie's heart.....food.   She said the food is actually not that bad. However, they do cook with a lot more oil than she is used to but she is adjusting.  She helps her host mama cook and said she can't wait to make some of the dishes for us when she gets home.  A lot of what she eats at her family's home is vegetarian, and she said when a meal does contain meat, she just doesn't ask what kind it is!

from Bonne Gurzenda