Volunteering on Campus: Teaching ESL Through Princeton's SPEAR


Civic service and engagement are a large part of what Princeton stands for. The Pace Center for Civic Engagement provides a very wide range of possible volunteer opportunities for Princeton students. Organizations range across a wide variety of interests and social issues. To highlight just a few, the list includes opportunities to tutor local K-12 students or incarcerated individuals in the NJ-NY area, involvement in a summer camp that supports children affected by a caregiver’s cancer diagnosis, and volunteering at blood drives with the Red Cross.

In addition to the opportunities listed explicitly on the Pace Center’s website, many students become embedded in the surrounding community and engage with organizations that are not necessarily affiliated with the University. For example, many students that I know volunteer with an organization called Solidaridad Central Jersey, which operates a pro se asylum clinic. A variety of individual clubs and organizations on campus also execute their own volunteering efforts. The options feel limitless.

From September through December, I spent my Tuesday evenings teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in the basement of Green Hall. Students for Prison Education, Abolition and Reform (SPEAR) works with the local non-profit, Familias en Resistencia y Acción (previously known as Unidad Latina en Acción NJ), to host around a dozen immigrants in the Mercer County area who are interested in reinforcing or building their English proficiency.

Every week, students are responsible for teaching one two-hour class, either on campus during the week, or in Trenton on Saturday mornings. During the days leading up to each class, co-teachers meet to create their lesson plans. Many times, however, teachers are required to adapt on the spot—we aim to be very flexible and responsive to ESL students’ needs during the classes themselves. There are three English levels taught each day.

SPEAR’s first semester offering ESL classes was in the spring of 2023, but my first time volunteering was not until that summer. Being fully transparent, I had initially been worried about my ability to manage my time well enough to undertake this additional responsibility. However, it was something I really wanted to do, so I joined the team of teachers over the summer to assist with the virtual classes being offered. Every Saturday, my co-teacher and I taught Level 1 English from 6 to 8 PM. It was a great experience, and I am so happy that I continued to teach ESL in the fall.

With the same co-teacher, we taught Level 2 English during the fall semester. It was extremely rewarding not only to see familiar faces from the summer, but also to build relationships with new students. Every class, students became increasingly confident and participated more and more. By the end of the fall semester, our small class felt like a small community and Tuesday evenings were the highlight of my week. As the spring semester kicks off, I look forward to continuing my involvement teaching ESL.

Volunteer opportunities are more than abundant on and around campus. Although it may feel intimidating to devote time to other extracurriculars, it is beyond worth it. Volunteering and engaging with people living in the surrounding community has enhanced my time at Princeton—it feels good to be a part of something bigger.


My RISE Summer Fellowship in NYC (Recognizing Inequities and Standing for Equality)


What do I want to do this summer? 

I kept asking myself this question over sophomore year. The past two summers I had studied abroad and worked a retail job in my hometown, but I knew, going into my junior year, that I wanted to do something explicitly related to my career. 

I want to go to law school. In a perfect world, I work as a Staff Attorney at the ACLU in their Immigrants’ Rights Unit. I am drawn to issues pertaining to detention centers and citizenship rights, and I wanted what I did over the summer to, in some capacity, address that.

This is why I chose to work for the RISE community partner CANY. CANY, or the Correctional Association of New York, is a non-profit promoting criminal justice reform. They conduct independent monitoring and oversight of all 44 New York State correctional facilities to improve transparency, identify harmful practices, and decrease incarceration across the state. With grounding values of respect, justice, and anti-racism, I was immediately drawn to CANY’s mission. 

I was on the Monitoring and Reporting Team, which organizes visits to correctional facilities, formulates standardized surveys to send out to incarcerated individuals, and is responsible for correspondence with incarcerated individuals and their loved ones. As an intern, I connected incarcerated individuals to social and legal services, conducted one-on-one interviews, and built CANY’s volunteer database to expand the facility visit program.

The environment was incredibly supportive, but the work was hard. While my supervisors were considerate of my time, communicated expectations clearly, and gave ample opportunities to ask questions, the material was heavy. Daily, I sifted through testimony about the abuses incarcerated individuals faced in facilities hundreds of miles away from their families. When working with organizations addressing issues of racial injustice and other inequalities, one can feel inundated with all the bad in the world. RISE gave me an opportunity to look at the nonprofit work I wanted to be involved in, and ask myself if I could handle it mentally and emotionally. 

This was a critical challenge to face. Through support from my co-workers, I learned to establish boundaries between myself and my work. Through generous funding from RISE, I was able to afford living in New York City with two of my best friends (also RISE fellows and PICS interns!). I learned ways to recharge – taking weekend trips to meet friends, cooking dinner with my roommates, or calling family back home. It was a summer to experience a new kind of independence, a taste of what post-grad could be, and affirmation that the service-focused professional world was where I wanted to be. 

To anyone considering the RISE program – reflect on what matters to you. Identify community organizations that align with your values, and push yourself to face the challenges that accompany new professional and personal experiences. Being a member of the Princeton community comes with the responsibility of serving communities beyond just our own. RISE gives us a unique opportunity to do just that.


A Snapshot into Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS)


 

Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) is a program that connects students with summer internship opportunities at nonprofit and government organizations in a wide variety of fields, ranging anywhere from healthcare to education. PICS is a funded opportunity, with students receiving a lump-sum stipend before the start of the summer. This stipend can be used towards any costs associated with your internship, including housing, food, and transportation. In addition to funding, PICS provides students with a network of resources and alumni to better support them during their internships and beyond. Through PICS, I spent this summer working as a Communications and Development intern at the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF) in Trenton, New Jersey.

The way that PICS works is relatively straightforward. At the end of the fall semester, a list of PICS community partners is released. This means you have about a month to choose up to two organizations to apply to, as well as prepare your application materials, all before the January deadline to submit your application. Interviews are usually held throughout the month of January, and by early to mid-February, you are notified about whether you have been selected for an internship.

When I was first looking into PICS, LALDEF stood out to me as it aligned with my own interests and personal values. LALDEF works to empower immigrants living in Mercer County, helping them navigate the systems and resources necessary for their own self-sufficiency in the United States. This includes access to legal services, citizenship test preparation, ESL classes, and youth mentoring programs. I am very interested in immigration work, and am considering the possibility of at some point working in the nonprofit sphere, so LALDEF made complete sense for me. Additionally, I loved that it was located near campus, as integrating myself more into the community surrounding campus is something I value greatly.

During my nine-week internship, I stayed on campus and took the train every day to Trenton. I worked Monday through Friday, eight hours a day, which meant that every morning, I made the trek from the train station to the office and up the stairs to the third floor, where our office space was located.

Most days after work, I would spend my time staying active, putting together puzzles, reading, and unwinding from the day. The weekends were a great opportunity for me to get off campus, even going into NYC twice over the summer.

The internship itself entailed a wide range of tasks and projects. As an intern working in the Communications and Development department, I was able to interact with the whole LALDEF team. Some of my major projects were designing the 2023 Impact Report and putting together the Fall 2023 Newsletter. The creation of the newsletter involved designing the layout itself, as well as contacting the different program heads to fill the newsletter with content and updates from each program. I was also involved in a variety of different supporting tasks within my department, but within other departments as well. I learned the importance and process of grant-writing, and conducted interviews with past and present clients to assemble testimonials for promotional purposes. One of the most impactful moments of the summer was sitting in on a legal intake interview, where I helped translate a client’s migration story.

All in all, I feel that I gained valuable insight into nonprofit work thanks to my PICS internship. I also learned what I like about different work experiences and environments, and what I would like to do differently in a future internship or job. Princeton-funded opportunities for internships (and research, if that’s more your thing) feel limitless at times. There is truly something for everyone, and the process will feel so much less overwhelming when it's upon you.


Bridging the Gap Between Academics and Advocacy: A Panel on “Crimmigration”


Princeton Students for Prison Education, Abolition, and Reform (SPEAR) is a student group focused on educating and advocating against the carceral state of the United States. SPEAR consists of a variety of committees, including Students Against Policing, the Re-Entry Committee, and Project Solidarity. Over time, I had become very passionate about the intersections between the criminal justice and immigration systems, and was excited to learn about, and join, SPEAR’s Immigration Committee.

The Immigration Committee works closely with other organizations in central New Jersey fighting for justice for local immigrant communities. In the past, the Committee has welcomed representatives from these organizations to speak about state-wide initiatives. For example, in the Fall of 2022, we hosted various organizers to raise awareness about the New Jersey Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. SPEAR also partners often with Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA), a non-profit organization just off campus on Witherspoon Street. With ULA, Princeton students teach English as a Second Language (ESL) classes every Tuesday and Saturday, welcoming local residents to join, no matter their current English proficiency.

One of the highlights of my sophomore year was getting the opportunity to organize a panel specifically on the criminalization of immigration, or “crimmigration” as it is often called in the literature. This is the idea that, over time, immigrants in the United States have been increasingly criminalized, both in the media, but also in immigration proceedings. In the fall, I took a class called The Politics of Crime and Punishment, where my final paper had focused on this shift in immigration law and the consequences that it has had on migrant communities particularly through the lens of procedural justice. At the time of this panel, I was also taking another course with Dr. Amelia Frank-Vitale on borders. Particularly, the class explored how borders are not only geographic, but can also be reproduced by systems within a country–in this case policing.

Through our panel, we wanted to raise awareness within the student body by inviting Princeton professors to speak on the topic, as many people often don’t know about this intertwinement of criminal and immigration laws. However, we also knew gaps in knowledge can arise from looking at these sorts of issues through a purely academic lens. Therefore, over the course of two months, we set out to bring together a group of diverse perspectives and organizers, both as academics and as activists. In the end, we welcomed three Princeton professors and three representatives from local organizations, although it’s important to note that all of the professors on our panel also considered themselves to be activists. A few days before the event, we designed our flyer to circulate across campus. As I would be moderating this event, I prepared our list of questions, which ranged from asking our panelists to define “crimmigration,” as well as elaborate on what this looks like within their work, and how it affects the ways in which they carry out ethical research and activism.

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Flyer advertising SPEAR's panel discussion on the criminalization of immigration.

Perhaps one of the reasons this panel had such a big impact on me, besides the obvious ability to share something that I care deeply about with fellow classmates, was the fact that it enabled me to see a tangible connection between the things I have learned and studied during my time at Princeton, and the sort of work that can be done, especially with the help of Princeton’s resources. I believe the ability to take the lead on these sorts of initiatives–whether it be organizing panel discussions, proposing a new volunteering experience or club, or receiving funding to engage in social impact activities–is something that is uniquely possible for Princeton students, and something I look forward to replicating in the future.

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Princeton student speaks at podium next to six seated panelists at the front of a classroom.

Service Focus 101


Princeton offers students many ways to get involved outside of the classroom with its 500+ different student-run organizations and activities. For those interested in service and social impact, I have just the group for you! Housed within our Pace Center for Civic Engagement, the Service Focus program is intended for rising sophomores looking to make a difference and learn a little in the process. It runs from the spring of your first-year to the spring of your sophomore year and is made up of 3 major components:

  1. Summer Service Experience/Internship

During the summer between their first and second years, all Service Focus students engage in some sort of funded service experience or project that aligns with their interests. For instance, I got to intern with award-winning documentary specialist and Princeton professor Purcell Carson. With her organization, The Trenton Project, we recently released a new documentary titled “What’s in a Name?”, which centers around the history of desegregation at Trenton’s Hedgepeth-Williams Middle School. Our team of six interns was involved in all aspects of the film’s creation including: storyboarding, conducting interviews, editing, etc. It was truly an unforgettable experience, and I learned so much.

And if you don’t know where or how to find a summer service internship, no worries! The Service Focus program is there to help guide you in finding one, whether that be through a Princeton program, like mine, or one with an outside organization.

  1. Service Cohort

When you sign up for Service Focus, you can indicate what area(s) of service interest you most, with options ranging from Sustainability to Health & Care to Race, Migration and Belonging. (Note: it doesn’t necessarily have to relate to your summer service experience!) This helps you eventually be placed into a cohort, where you’ll meet other students that share your passion. Given my personal experience with educational opportunity, I opted for the Education & Access Cohort.

Over the past few months, my cohort has met weekly to discuss some of the most pressing educational issues today and how we might alleviate them. We’ve also engaged in fun activities like watching episodes of ABC’s "Abbott Elementary" and listening to podcasts. Not to mention we get free food each meeting from a local restaurant! Our group really offers an informal way to discuss service ideas, while engaging with other members of the Princeton community with similar passions who we might not have met on-campus otherwise!

  1. ProCES Course

The last element of the program ties in the academic curriculum to our commitment to service. Service Focus members are required to take at least one ProCES-designated course sometime during their sophomore year. ProCES is the nickname for Princeton’s Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship. On their website, you can not only find a list of these ProCES classes, but other service-oriented projects and opportunities that students can partake in.

Service Focus students also have the option to petition a course that isn’t officially indicated as a ProCES course, but that they feel presents opportunities for community engagement and service learning. What’s great about this is that it both encourages student advocacy and allows us to identify other creative ways that classes may connect to service. And, once again, the course you take doesn’t even necessarily have to be related to your summer experience or your cohort topic. For example, for my ProCES course, I’m currently thinking about taking SPI387: Education Policy in the United States, or I may branch out and try DAN306: Introduction to Radical Access: Disability Justice in the Arts. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even take both! 

Overall, Service Focus truly offers a unique chance to infuse your service interests with your academic experience, and I highly encourage any student even slightly interested to apply. Visit the Service Focus website to learn more!


Getting Oriented on Campus: Community Action as a First-Year to Community Action as a Leader


CA, OA, DDA. These are acronyms that all incoming first-years come to know as they embark on their college journey at Princeton. Community Action, Outdoor Action, and Dialogue & Difference in Action, respectively, are three of the main orientation programs that new students are assigned to upon arrival to campus. While all three programs have their unique merits and focuses, I’d like to talk about my amazing Community Action experiences, both as a first-year student and later as a leader. 

I remember arriving at Princeton and, like many incoming students, wondering how, when, and where I’d make friends. Surely, you’ll meet peers through your classes, your advisee “zee” group (AKA the people that live on/around your floor), and through clubs. However, CA, and orientation in general, presents a special opportunity to meet a random assortment of fellow first-years that you may otherwise never have met anywhere else. It also is an opportunity to connect with communities nearby and engage in service.

My first year, I absolutely loved my CA group. Even though we were still in our COVID-era and could not do the typical overnight orientation trips, our group bonded quickly. One of my favorite memories was going to the Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC) and getting to do team-building games and go canoeing together. Another would be doing a gardening service project at the local Grounds for Sculpture. These activities really brought our group together and, to this day, I’m still good friends with many members of my CA group. And even with those I’m not, it’s nice to have a familiar face around campus to say hi to. Coincidentally, my CA trip is also where I met one of my best friends (shoutout Kelsey!). Though she was in a different group than me, we were both at the same service site and got to talking. We found out we shared a lot of similarities, like being from New Jersey, living in what was then First College, and also enjoying our CA experiences so much.
 

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Group of students posing around statue
My 2021 CA Group, as a first-year student!

That is partially what inspired that very friend and I to become CA leaders together this year for the Class of 2026. Our CA group (shoutout Group 17~38!) quickly became like a family, and the energy and positivity our first-years brought was absolutely palpable throughout our entire trip. Now many weeks past the end of this year’s orientation program, we still find ourselves sending jokes in our Group 17 chat, grabbing dinner together on Nassau St., and studying with them on our floor. I can safely say that becoming a CA leader was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and our CA trip this year was one of, if not the, best 4 days of my Princeton experience thus far. 

All this to say, orientation and Community Action is one of the many ways Princeton helps foster community amongst the incoming class. From the start of your Princeton career, you’re able to build strong connections with your peers — connections that will hopefully end up lasting a lifetime!
 

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Students and man posing for group picture in front of tree
My 2022 CA group, as a sophomore and leader!

Breaking Out of Princeton: Spring Break in NYC


Going to college thousands of miles from home is always both exciting and stressful. However, I found this statement to be especially true during breaks. Often, shorter breaks (like Thanksgiving, fall break and spring break) can seem too short for a trip home to be worthwhile, or even possible. My first year, going home just was not an option for me. Fortunately, Princeton allows many of its students to stay on campus during short breaks. So I never had to worry about access to housing or food during those times. For those who decide to, staying on campus during breaks can be rejuvenating. It is a chance to experience Princeton without the hectic life of being a student, dining hall crowds and (sometimes boring) early morning lectures. It can be a chance to make new connections and catch up on overdue assignments and dining hall dates. That said, for those seeking thrills and excitement, Princeton also offers a number of alternative break plans run by various departments and clubs on campus. These opportunities range from trips to see live Broadway shows or go restaurant hopping in New York City, to free boxing workshops, to class-sponsored trips within the United States or abroad and much more. For my spring break, I spent a week in NYC and it was genuinely one of my best experiences so far as a Princeton student.

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5 students posing for a photo in front of a restaurant
Last day in NYC with the group! 

I was part of a cohort of students who spent the week in NYC learning about immigration to the city through the lens of food. The trip was organized by the PACE Center, which is the department that manages most of the service-related initiatives for the University. During this week, along with a group of five Princeton students and a staff member, I engaged in conversations with community leaders in Brooklyn and the Bronx about the journeys of refugees in NYC and the role that food and the restaurant industry play in their experiences. I was also able to socialize with and befriend other Princeton students, many of whom I had never met before. Moreover, I was able to live in NYC for five days and eat quality New York food… For free!

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Bowl of stew in shallow bowl on table
Our meal from Emma’s Torch, a nonprofit that prepares immigrants to enter the workforce.

I enjoyed the opportunity this Breakout Trip gave me to branch out and learn more about nearby communities and the challenges their residents can face. Princeton is not huge, but it is certainly big and busy enough to make you forget about the outside world if the intentionality to get out of the "bubble" is lacking. Our supervisor, Geralyn Williams, also made sure we learned about the most effective ways to approach service beyond our spring trip. We learned about empowering and contributing to established initiatives put in place by the locals rather than one centered on saviorism. Additionally, this trip provided me with many opportunities to reflect on how I might pursue my dedication to service in a way that truly serves others while respecting their own resourcefulness and commitment. I gained new insights into the worlds of social work, immigration law and human rights, all of which are areas that interest me deeply. I also had the opportunity to engage with social workers and CEOs of nonprofits and social enterprises and learn about their daily responsibilities, their challenges and the impact they have or aspire to. Following these conversations, I always felt deeply inspired.

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Man holding chicken in farm building
Meet Poulette whom I met in an Urban Farm.

When I returned to Princeton, I felt that my sense of purpose had been redefined and sharpened. I felt more confident entering my classes and engaging in my extracurricular activities knowing that what I was learning was going to help prepare me for the life and career I desire. Even during my break time, Princeton accompanied me in my personal journey and it felt incredibly reassuring. In the days following this trip I had a heightened sense of awareness--I felt I was at the right place.


Signing Up for Bridge Year


Bridge Year is often seen as a magical experience where students are able to take a year off to travel the world on Princeton’s dime. That’s how I saw it. I was convinced about the opportunity to learn and grow by being immersed in the culture. Plus, I wanted to take advantage of a free travel opportunity and get out of the confines of New Jersey, especially after feeling senior year burnout. And part of me desperately needed time to figure out more about who I was– Princeton was offering that opportunity. 

For some students, Bridge Year is the ultimate highlight of their Princeton experience. For others, not so much. Despite its glowing reviews, Bridge Year isn’t always sunshine and happy memories, yet those are the memories often communicated. The expansive and fast-paced nature of the program allows students to focus on the highlights. The program is broken into short-term travel (at the beginning, over Winter break, and the final month) which allows you to rapidly immerse yourself in different cultures and learn more about the history of the place you are in. Our group traveled to Indonesia on the shores of Banyuwangi, through the farms of Flores, up to the peak of Dieng, to the waterfalls of Sumba and more. Then for the majority of the program, my group and I lived in Jogja with our own individual homestay families, interned at an NGO, took language classes, attended speaker events or activities put on by the staff members, and took an extracurricular class that was rooted in some aspect of Indonesian culture (mine was silversmithing). At my NGO, I attended different events surrounding children's rights and assisted with research surrounding sex trafficking— a heavy yet important experience. Beyond all of those activities, I was free to explore the city and myself. 

 

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Sunset from atop boat off the coast of Labuan Bajo

Because of the freedom to explore, many students on the trip face identity conflicts. In all fairness, identity conflict is a part of life. Bridge Year’s program design allows students to have time to reflect deeply on themselves, accelerating identity conflict and growth. Without academic rigor and structure, our brains can run free to think critically and deeply about ourselves. With the right support, this can be healthy. 

For me, I struggled with being visibly brown: I am a first-generation Bangladeshi-American and a Muslim. Growing up, my hometown is known to be “accepting, diverse, and liberal,” but lacked a significant South Asian or Muslim population. As one of the few, I learned to compartmentalize the subtle racism and Islamophobia I faced to keep moving forward. 

 

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Poster board about skin color identity

Bridge Year forced me to unpack all of it.  Every day, I was forced to confront my identity because of other people. Instead of compartmentalizing, I had time to think about it. 

At the start of the trip, whenever someone mentioned Islam, my group turned to me. At first, I was happy to fill in the gaps in their knowledge, but it soon hurt to hear their misconceptions about our traditions and beliefs.

As we settled into our long-term homestays, I felt pressure from the rest of the community. Taxi drivers would always question where I came from, to the point where my group and I had a running joke: to answer with random places around the world. At events, locals would often question my identity– “Is she really American?” and only dropped the subject when my white peers spoke up for me. Sometimes, local Indonesians didn’t bother to include me among my peers. I learned to stand in the middle of the group to avoid being cut off at doors and in lines. Other times, people asked if I was the instructor’s daughter, despite us bearing no resemblance besides our skin tone. Further, I was constantly offered whitening soaps and products. Everyone I interacted with had some opinion on my skin, which took away from my agency in how I viewed my heritage and identity. 

Yet these reactions came with perks. I could blend in more easily than my peers, avoiding scams and harassment– as long as I kept my mouth shut. As a Muslim, I felt another degree of connection to homestay families whenever they had a communal prayer. Despite these benefits, I fixated on the negative experiences, as is natural. Eventually, I grew to hate being brown. 

Seeking help never felt obvious. The advising resources provided by Princeton were in a completely different time zone and I didn’t feel like a real Princeton student or someone who could access those resources. In Indonesia, my instructors could not relate to my specific experience as a non-Indonesian woman of color. Instead, they asked me to bring it up to my group mates in order to find the support I needed, placing an undue burden on the other students, who were each struggling in their own ways to navigate our new environment. 

Near the end of my experience, I read a book entitled, “The Good Immigrant.” After hearing other POC narratives surrounding discrimination in a new environment, I finally felt seen and heard. During a group meeting, I used this book and critical race theory via presentation to explain my experience to my peers. Hours later, we received notice that we were being sent home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the rush to leave that followed, neither my peers nor I had time to process our thoughts on race. 

At home, I journaled a lot, especially since I had to quarantine. That summer held major events that helped me heal from the trauma of Bridge Year– America reckoned with race, and Never Have I Ever, one of the few TV shows that centers on a brown girl, debuted its first season on Netflix.

 

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Aneekah and two other students sitting atop a mountain after a hike in Java

After two years, I have come to terms with my experience. It was painful to grapple with my identity,  yet my struggles have prepared me for almost all environments. I have run the gamut of different ways in which I, as a brown girl, will be perceived. Further, I have now intentionally cultivated undying self-respect and love for my skin tone, and by extension, my heritage. I am grateful to have had the experience now, to have reckoned with my race and come to an understanding now, rather than have bottled up the insecurity for the future. My experiences on Bridge Year, even the ugly ones, have allowed me to be a much more mature and confident individual in the spaces  I occupy. I am lucky to have that resolve. 

Not everyone will have the same experiences I had, even if you fit the same description of a brown Muslim girl. But I wish I had heard this dialogue before going on the trip so that I knew I wasn’t the only one experiencing it. As a pre-frosh on Bridge Year, it’s daunting to navigate resources, send emails, or speak up about these issues. Thankfully, more avenues to access and promote these resources are being implemented, spearheaded by former students. During the year, there will be Peer Advisors who can connect participants with the correct resources. During the application process, feel free to reach out to a Bridge Year Ambassador with any questions you may have. 

This experience among other ones is what empowered me to become a Bridge Year Ambassador. In that position, I hope to continue to inform the next generation of students about the complex ways in which different students navigate the experience. I hope that I can make the experience more supportive for future students without discouraging them from considering attending.

In sum, Bridge Year isn’t just a magical experience where you travel to the most beautiful places on earth and end up with a glorious Instagram page. It is a complex, challenging, and meaningful life experience that will shape who you are. That’s what you’re signing up for. 


What You Have to Gain Is Wonderful


By the time I submitted my final college application, I was exhausted. I was excited about  college (and excited about Princeton, once I was admitted and later enrolled), but the thought of  another four years of physics equations and research papers made me apprehensive. I started spending a lot of time on the Novogratz Bridge Year website, looking at photos of smiling participants and reading about a year of trekking and service and living abroad.  

When deciding whether or not I wanted to apply to Princeton’s Novogratz Bridge Year program, one of my major hang-ups was about my high school friends. I adored them, and they were all about to go to college — to choose a major, attend dorm parties and bond with roommates— and I wasn’t sure if I could do something so different from them. It would mean that I graduated a year later from them and that I wouldn’t be able to come home for breaks. At some level, it meant that I wouldn’t be able to relate to them and they wouldn’t be able to relate to me.  

I was so worried about this that I almost didn’t apply to the program in Senegal. When I did, and I was accepted, my excitement was tempered slightly by these fears. I spent the summer before I left buying a bug hut, googling Senegalese music, and trying not to feel left out as my friends picked out their classes. I don’t know if my 18-year-old self would be surprised by this or not, but those fears pretty much all came true. I kept missing the group FaceTimes because I was in a different time zone; I cried when I saw photos of all my friends together at Thanksgiving; I had a hard time connecting with them when I came home the following summer.  

 

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A beach in Senegal

I don’t mean to say that I lost my high school friends — I am still incredibly close with many of  them, and I love now being able to trade stories about our professors and our college friends. In  some ways, my friendships with them are stronger than they ever were. Maybe if I hadn’t gone away, we wouldn’t be friends at all now. But choosing to take a gap year separated me from them  in ways that I still haven’t fully moved past. This separation very likely might have happened  anyway, as we all went to different schools and studied different things. But it felt unique to me,  as perhaps it does to everyone. At the very least, I was the first one to separate, and I didn’t get to  ease into it over the course of the semester or the year. Once I left, I was gone.  

Despite this loss — and it does still feel in many ways like a loss, as grateful as I am for my  continued friendships — I wouldn’t change my decision for the world. Before I left for Senegal I was so focused on what I stood to lose that I had a hard time picturing what I had to gain. That makes sense: what you might lose is real and tangible, while what you might gain is abstract and largely unknown. It wasn’t until I was there that I realized that the choice I had made was worth it.

Now, I wouldn’t trade any of it: picking up my little homestay brother from school, or making  pancakes on top of a mountain for my friend’s birthday, or running along the beach and through  the waves, or drinking cold bissap after finishing some hot ceebujen, or reading in the backseat of long and dusty bus rides, or carving watermelons for Halloween with my homestay family, or  eating beignets and oranges on the side of the road with my friends, or hiking past baobab trees, or returning to hold my godchildren for the first time. I wouldn’t trade a single one of those things.  

 

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Kate making faces with 4 children and adult

I spent that year living a life very different than the one I had grown used to. I worked at an  organization called Empire des Enfants, a shelter for boys who had been living and begging on  the streets, and learned how I could live a life of service even when I wasn’t “doing service.” I  spent my days taking the bus to work and then coming home for lunch before heading off to  language class. On the weekends, I swam to beautiful islands with my group and watched tv with  my little brothers. Slowly, I was able to make new friends and form new communities. They  looked different than the ones I had before, but I began to feel at home in a new place. I promise  you, what you have to gain is wonderful.

 

From Uniform to University


Xander de los Reyes '23

 

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Xander DeLosReyes '23 with Princeton admit packet

I spent my last six months in the Marine Corps moonlighting as a bartender. I’ll always be grateful for that experience because, at a time when many separating service members experience a culture shock, I was able to make the Marine-to-civilian transition slowly and smoothly. It also taught me how to convert love for camaraderie into love for community, which carried me through the next two-and-a-half years of my civilian life, ultimately placing me into Princeton’s community. Here, I’ve found immense support and infinite resources. The Writing Center has helped me refine my papers, the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning has helped me decode Princeton’s syllabi and the support of my residential college (shoutout, Forbes!) has ensured that I make well-informed academic decisions. Because I’m a veteran and a transfer student, I’m currently enrolled in “Everyone’s an Expert." Unlike the traditional first-year writing seminars, this transfer-focused seminar builds on the unconventional backgrounds—academically or experientially—of veterans and transfer students. We’re taught how to build on writing skills acquired from our previous institutions and encouraged to draw on the experiences that make us unique students. Truthfully, it’s my favorite course because I’ve enjoyed interacting with other non-traditional students. Plus, as a prospective politics concentrator preparing for a writing-intensive career, I’m indebted to our instructor Dr. Keith Shaw, director of transfer, veteran, and non-traditional student programs—who also offers guidance and support for non-traditional students. The guidance and feedback he’s provided will have a lasting impact on my writing and academic mindset. Reflecting on all of these positive experiences makes it funny to look back and think about my initial worries. When I was first accepted, imposter syndrome set in. I felt like my admission was an anomaly and that Princeton would immediately overwhelm me. As the semester approached, those feelings of anxiety grew, but—because of Princeton’s useful resources and supportive community—they were quickly put to rest. All in all, Princeton has been an extraordinary community. Despite my initial fears, I now know I’m right where I belong—surrounded by encouragement and support. I’m a part of this community, and you could be, too.

 


Matthew Williams '24

As a Marine Corps veteran and transfer student, I am far removed from the realm of a typical first-year student at Princeton. I am 22 years old and from the great city of Fort Worth, Texas. I received my Princeton acceptance letter as I neared the end of my four-year enlistment in Spring 2020. This news was accompanied by varying emotions: excitement, worries, anxiety and anticipation. Perhaps my most daunting concern was the unknown academic challenges that I would soon endure. Fortunately for veteran and transfer students alike, there are two student-run organizations that have been central in ensuring my smooth transition in an otherwise challenging plane. The Princeton Student Veterans (PSV) and Princeton Transfer Association (PTA) held veteran and transfer-specific events, Q&A sessions and provided additional resources to my incoming cohort. These student-run organizations have proven invaluable as I reflect on my Princeton experience.

My first semester at Princeton University has been an equally challenging and exhilarating experience. I intend to concentrate in politics with an emphasis on political economy. Albeit through Zoom, there remains a thrill when you are studying under some of the world’s most prominent professors. The academic challenges I’ve faced pale in comparison to the resources Princeton offers. In addition to office hours, The McGraw Center is a helpful tool for both traditional and non-traditional students when you need additional help in a class. From the multitude of student clubs to simply chatting with other students after class, I have connected with several of the traditional first-year students despite being a part of the transfer program. I am proud to be a part of the growing student veteran population at Princeton University. Go Tigers!