In September 2011 I left my home in Georgia and took a service based as a Gap Year Fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This is part one of the presentation I created for my gap year. For more information about the fellowship go here: http://campus-y.unc.edu/get-involved/global-programs/gap-year

1. CAPRIS, ITALY

2. POMPEII, ITALY

3. AMALFI COAST, ITALY

4. AMALFI, ITALY

5. AMALFI COAST, ITALY

6. FLORENCE, ITALY

7. FLORENCE, ITALY

8. VATICAN CITY, ITALY

9. VENICE, ITALY

10. ROME
ITALY
ASDF

11. “ I asked one man in the soup kitchen about his family and I’ll
never forget how his face lit up and he started talking about his
daughter who lives with his ex-wife. When I asked if he was going
to see her after he found work he said, “Of course! She is not just
”
my daughter, she is me. She is my heart.

12. After one week bonding together Cecilia and I went our
separate ways. She went to Australia. I went to Budapest.

14. DIA
Located in the heart of
Budapest, DIA is a leading
ASDF
NGO in youth service,
debating, and policy and
strategic development in the
areas of citizenship and global
education.
DIA stands for “Demokratikus
Ifjúságért Alapítvány,”or in
English the Foundation for
Democratic Youth.

15. DIA is run by a small and witty team. I came on board with
them for three week. What did I do?

16. I traveled around the city and gave talks at multiple schools promoting
volunteer work and getting involved in the community. I spoke to high
school students and shared my experiences abroad, discussing how
helping others has changed my life.

18. I TRIED TO EMPOWER.

19. “
I decided that if I ever want to run away from home, I will come
back to Hungary and permanently work with DIA. It is one of the
greatest work environments I have ever been a part of. Each
person is passionate about his or her work, the employees are
”
always joking, and everyone is happy to be there.

20. I also supported DIA at an NGO fair and I did a number of side
projects for them including work on their English website and
research on service learning.

21. My last day in Budapest was February 28th. I spent the next
three weeks at home in Atlanta, Georgia renewing my
bonds with my family and friends and working on my non-
profit the International Friends Foundation.

22. ON APRIL 1ST I SAW THE ISLAND OF
MADAGASCAR
FOR THE FIRST TIME.

23. REEF
DOCTOR
After three long days of travel
and my first ride on an
ASDF
infamous “Taxi Brousse,” I
arrived in the village of Ifaty
situated along the Bay of
Ranobe in the Southwest
region of the island. I was
greeted by the staff and
volunteers of Reef Doctor, an
NGO based in the U.K. that I
decided to volunteer with for 3
months as a research assistant.

24. MARINE
RESEARCH.
MARINE
MANAGEMENT.
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT.

25. During my first two weeks I worked through dive
training for Open Water and Advanced Certification.
On the side I helped a student, Sue Pierre, on a
project she was doing monitoring seagrass. In the
photo we are gathering information on species and
percent cover along a transect line.

26. After I finished my initial dive training I was thrown into what
would be the busiest time during my gap year.
I started science diving.
VATICAN CITY, ITALY

27. It’s impossible to talk
underwater so as a
research assistant you are
required to pass written
and in-water exams
proving you know your list
of fish, benthic, and
invertebrate species. Reef
Doctor has two science
two programs, indicator
and expert. For a month
this book became my
companion as I studied to
work through both
programs and prepared
for my exams.

28. TRAINING
DIVES
For three weeks I was trained
to conduct underwater
ASDF
surveys with two other
volunteers, Henry and Sara.
Each day we went diving with
professional staff and learned
underwater skills like how to lay
point intercept and belt
transects, locate our data
water column, prepare our
Photo credit: Valerie Brooks
slates, and control our
buoyancy.

29. When I joined Reef Doctor I had no idea what “conducting an underwater
survey” actually meant. Essentially, a team of three people go diving at a
particular site and lay a 25 meter section of transect tape across the reef. Each
person swims along the tape recording fish, benthic, or invertebrates on their
slate. When all members finish they roll up the tape and repeat the process two
more times for a total of three transects per survey.
Photo credit: Sara Vierras

30. “ There is a huge difference between diving recreationally and
diving for science research. I had no idea it would be so difficult
to lay a transect tape across a reef, watch a compass to make
sure you are heading in the right direction, and count and write
”
down moving fish all at the same time.
VATICAN CITY, ITALY

31. Throughout my last 7 weeks I conducted a total of 12 surveys for Reef
Doctor at 5 different reef locations. The data is collected to measure
changes in the reef system each year and bring awareness to the current
marine threats and issues to the villages along the bay. This is a photo of
my underwater dive slate after conducting a fish survey.

32. In three months I went on over 90 dives and completed training
as a rescue diver. Along the journey I developed a passion for
underwater photography. Here are some photos I took at different
reefs.
VATICAN CITY, ITALY

33. Rose Garden

34. Delhi Rose Garden

35. Rose Garden

36. Rose Garden

37. Coral Garden

38. Coral Garden

39. Coral Garden

40. Coral Garden

41. Ankarandava

42. Humphead Hole

43. Coral Garden Humphead Hole
Photo Credit: Sara Vierras

44. Humphead Hole

45. “ I’ve never been a diehard science enthusiast but coming here has
sparked something inside of me. It’s amazing learning and studying a
fish on land then going into the water and seeing it alive, moving, and
watching you with the same curious look. The raw beauty of a Bluestreak
Cleaner Wrasse inside the extended jaw of a large fusilier cleaning it’s
”
mouth like an underwater dentist is nature at it’s finest!

46. On May 25th I took a short break with
another volunteer, Henry Duffy, to
go to Ranomafana National Park in
the East and trek through the
rainforest. I saw my first lemur and
managed to avoid the leeches!

47. TEACHING
In my free time I did various projects and
ASDF
volunteer work teaching English, making
informational videos, and representing
Reef Doctor at events.
Teaching at a library in Mangily.

48. Pirogue licensing event in Mangily

49. One of my main projects at Reef Doctor was developing a 10 week English program
in Ifaty to be continued or restarted by future volunteers. I taught 6 teachers in the
village twice a week and wrote a curriculum with lesson plans, quizzes, and activities
for Reef Doctor. The group of teachers really made me feel welcomed in the
community and gave me an inside look at the Malagasy way of life.

50. After celebrating Madagascar’s Independence Day on June 26th I left the
island and said goodbye to the jaw dropping sunsets, the endemic flora and
fauna, and the close friends I made at Reef Doctor. As my plane flew back
over the island I realized that the end was near…

51. CITY OF
GOLD
After Madagascar, I spent
one week in the largest city
in South Africa,
Johannesburg, staying at a
lovely place called Bob’s
Bunkhouse. My week was
filled with the famous
Roobibos tea and long
walks down St. Anne road
reflecting on my gap year
and preparing to go home
and begin school at UNC.

52. In a blink of an eye I was back on a flight to Atlanta, Georgia for a
large welcome back breakfast with my family. Still the same girl I
was a year ago just with a lot of experiences under my belt and a
new outlook on life.

53. One girl. One year. Twelve flights. Thirteen trains.

54. “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again;
we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life
”
VATICAN CITY, ITALY