GO! on Spring Break

My roommate Emily is currently on a Global Outreach spring break project in the Adirondacks. Here's an interview with her to learn about GO! at Fordham.

Name: Emily Tormey
Major: Mathematics
Year: Junior
Hometown: Plainville, MA


What is GO!?
GO! stands for Global Outreach. The Global Outreach office is part of the Office of Mission and Ministry. They hold projects 3 times a year: winter break, spring break, and at the beginning of summer break. The projects are cultural immersion and service opportunities that all have a different and unique focus on different cultures and different social justice issues. There are 32 projects total a year between Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses, offering both domestic and international projects.

What GO! project are you going on?
I will be going on GO! Adirondacks.

What will you be doing? 
My team will be learning about the culture and history of the Mohawk and Abenaki tribes with a focus on their stewardship of the land and its resources.

What has your team done to prepare?
My team has been having weekly meetings since November. Every week we come together as a group and focus on a different aspect of the GO! mission and our particular trip’s focus.

Emily and some members of her team at GO! commissioning.

What are common practices of GO! projects?
GO! is centered on four pillars that are taken very seriously by the entire GO! community. They are spirituality, social justice, simple living, and community. Each of these pillars is extremely important to having a successful GO! project and they are all discussed in detail at our weekly GO! meetings.

What is the process to go on a trip?
First you have to submit an online application and interview with the project’s leader for each project you are interested in participating in. Once you have been selected, you meet with your group each week for about 2 hours. Additionally, each week you go on a one-on-one with a member of your group. That could be getting coffee off campus, grabbing lunch, or doing something fun in the city. The fun part of one-on-one’s is that you can do whatever you guys want together.

Another important aspect is fundraising. Each project does come with an estimated cost, but individuals are allowed to do personal fundraising and teams always do fundraising events together. Just a few weeks ago my team had a very successful fundraiser delivering bagels to students in their rooms or off-campus apartments. Also, the fundraisers are a great time to bond with your team and get to know them better.

What are you most looking forward to?
Well, one of the exciting things about GO! is that you don’t actually get a full itinerary of what you will be doing before you go. So, right now I know some general details of what the focus of our project is, but I do not know what activities we will be doing or what will happen on a day-to-day basis.

What are you least looking forward to?
Nothing. I am beyond excited to go on my project and spend a week with the amazing people I am lucky enough to be on a team with.