A Little Bit of Background

I'm Gavin. I'm taking a gap year!

I graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles this June. I was accepted into the Princeton Class of 2014 and deferred admission for a year because I received the HW Brownstein Fellowship. It helps fund a gap year of community service and cultural immersion for one senior.

(For more on the Brownstein fellowship, see: http://www.brownsteinfund.org/
If you're a prospective applicant, see: http://students.hw.com/Portals/44/Brownstein.pdf)

I am that senior (now graduate).

I am very thankful to the Brownstein Family and Committee for this opportunity and honor.

I'll be spending the next three and half months teaching English and learning Arabic in Rabat, Morocco with the Projects Abroad program. Rabat, an ancient coastal city, is the capital of Morocco. I depart September 7th. I'm excited. : D

A few quick facts about Morocco:
- It was the first country to acknowledge America's independence.
- It is a sister city of Honolulu.
- The current king, Mohammed VI, is very progressive and is an avid jet-skier.
- It is the intersection of African, Middle Eastern, and European cultures.
- The beverage of choice is Moroccan mint tea - sweetened green tea brewed with fresh mint leaves.
- Arabic, French, English, and Berber (a North African language related to ancient Egyptian) are all spoken in Morocco.

I'll be using this blog to keep you all updated on my adventures/explorations/insights/stories/thoughts. If you have a question about a post, don't hesitate to leave a comment! I'll do my best to get back to you.

So that's about it. Thanks for reading!

- Gavin 正明