Even at 7:00 a.m., class of 2007 alumna Kimberly Ang was met with a crowd of 2,000 patients in the Occidental Mindoro province of the Philippines waiting for medical assistance. Ang, along with a few other volunteers from her organization Give your Gap, got straight to work. Eight hours of arranging medications for the pharmacy; 150 medical professionals for carrying out medical procedures; 208 surgeries; 60 prosthetic arms, legs and feet; 11,278 patients; and five days later, the GYG team finally completed their task.
This is a snapshot of the various organizations and volunteer experiences Ang and the rest of her executive team have shared during the past few months of community service.
Ang and fellow University of California, San Diego graduate Amber Rackliffe, both of whom are currently taking a gap year after graduating from UCSD in June 2011, formed Give your Gap in August 2011. GYG is an organization geared towards helping students find organizations to volunteer with during their gap years. Ang chose to take a gap year after receiving her undergraduate degree in Near East History from UCSD to apply for graduate schools as well as to travel and volunteer with organizations around the world.
Rackliffe shared the same desire to volunteer and travel, but the two could not find a “young, media-friendly, informative” website that suited their needs. They consequently formed their own website geared towards providing students considering taking gap years with information regarding non-profit organizations and social welfare businesses. Now, almost a year later, the team hopes that they have encouraged other students to follow their path in volunteering worldwide.
According to Marketing and Outreach Director and UCSD Class of 2010 alumna Joeva Rock, much of the inspiration for getting involved in volunteering programs worldwide for the officer team stemmed from their education at UCSD. Specifically, Ang, Rackliffe, Rock and a few other members of the executive team were inspired by the professors of UCSD’s Eleanor Roosevelt College to form and expand GYG. Eleanor Roosevelt College is one of the six residential colleges at UCSD, each with its own theme.
“Eleanor Roosevelt College was all about creating global citizens,” Rock said. “It was all about creating people who were knowledgeable about the world around them and cared about people in their communities and other communities and put an effort into making the world a better place.”
That ideology has led the team far in their pursuit of diverse experiences from organizations benefiting their communities. As of now, the team has volunteered in Malaysia, Bali, Vietnam and several other countries with 12 organizations that provide services ranging from LGBT counseling in Singapore to leading the charter school movement in India.
“The idea is, at each organization that they visit, [the GYG team is] trying to get the story. They’re trying to get what that organization [for which the team is volunteering] does to make their community better,” Rock said. “They try to feature each organization and inspire people in that country or wherever to say, ‘Hey that’s cool. I want that in my community or I want to support that organization.‘”
The executive team that once consisted of two members has now grown to over ten executives and interns. With each additional staff member and country visited, Ang sees growth in the organization she co-founded almost a year ago.
“We have new energy and ideas when people hop on board with [the executive team]. We started with two, grew our executive team to five, and the intern staff has really made a meaningful impact as well,” Ang said in an e-mail statement. “Our mission has shifted as we see new directions for the site to grow and fill the most important niches for prospective volunteers.”
According to Rock, the website currently contains profiles of volunteers discussing their experiences being involved with public service organizations, features of non profit organizations and social businesses and travel blogs by the members of the GYG team.
The growth in the number of members of the GYG team and website visits, in addition to the increased number of volunteers, also serves as a sign for Ang and Rock that the gap year message has been spreading. It is with this hope of more students becoming interested in taking gap years that Ang believes GYG will expand to a broader range of volunteers.
“I think gap years are most effective in changing our perspectives on our life paths. Especially at [MVHS], the life track is cut-and-dry: finish high school, go to a good college, maybe go on and get yourself a graduate degree, and then have a successful professional career,” Ang said. “If you have any inkling or curiosity to discover an alternate path for yourself, I hope you consider taking a gap year to explore those options. It’s also a good way for young college grads to gain experience, since finding “career jobs” is quite difficult right out of school.”
Though not even a year has passed since Ang first created the organization, she feels that the time that she has spent traveling and volunteering since January has strongly influenced her future career goals as well as her personality. Through pursuing her Master’s degree at University of Chicago this fall, she plans to shift her career plans into international development work. Other members of the team wish to continue their volunteer work on behalf of GYG and help maintain the website.
“Our website is here to help facilitate that experience: to show you some opportunities, offer advice, and try to help you make the most of your gap year,” Ang said.
If interested in joining the GYG team, Ang encourages students to write to [email protected] with their interests and resume. For more information about Give your Gap, visit their website.
