My GO! Experience

Earlier this semester, I interviewed for the opportunity to be on one of Fordham’s popular Global Outreach projects. I applied to GO! Navajo, New Orleans, and Alaska. Fortunately, I received my top project choice, and I am preparing with an incredible team to experience Bethel, Alaska from May 18^th to the 28^th.

The bear shirts we sold as a fundraiser in the Alaskan flag colors!

Global Outreach is a program at Fordham that allows students to travel to places they have likely never experienced on a cultural immersion and service trip. Students learn about problems pertaining to the specific area of their project including social justice, environmental, political, and economic issues. Each team consists of 10-15 students, and travel during either winter, spring, or summer break. Every project is unique in duration, focus, and dynamic, but GO! emphasizes its four pillars to provide the most meaningful experience possible; these include community, simple living, spirituality, and social justice. Now that you have a little background on GO! let me tell you about my own experience thus far.

My GO! team at GO! Olympics!

I am participating in the GO! Alaska project, which is one of the summer domestic trips. I have a team of 12 members, including my team leader and chaperone, none of whom I knew before accepting the project. Over the course of the semester, we have had meetings, outings, and other events that have allowed us to become a tight-knit community. These are people I likely never would have met if I had not participated in GO!, but now they are people that I can trust, grow from, and almost call my family. Between fundraisers, Campus Movie Fest, our team retreat, gym sessions, and Chipotle runs, we have bonded so much, and there is no one else I would rather venture into unknown territory with.

We are all so excited for our upcoming project. We have not only spent the semester getting to know each other, but we have also done a lot of research on Bethel and its social issues as well. Because in GO! the motto is "participate, don't anticipate," the team (besides the leader and chaperone) does not know what our activities and responsibilities will consist of when we are there. We, however, have each other to rely on and work with, and with open-minds, I think we will all really gain a lot from our experience in Alaska. 

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.