I thought I was signing up for a program.

What I did not realize was that I was signing up to have almost everything I believed about the world quietly dismantled; then rebuilt, piece by piece, in places I had never imagined myself standing in.

If you had told me a year ago that I would be sitting in Delhi after traveling through Patagonia, Istanbul, Marrakech, Nairobi, and New York; trying to explain what this experience actually feels like; I probably would have laughed.Because even now, it still feels slightly unreal.

The moment I first heard about it

I did not find this program through a website or an ad.I found it through a person.

A close friend of mine had done it the year before; we had never met in person, but when she came back, something about her had shifted. Not dramatically; not in a way you could easily point at; but enough that you noticed it in how she spoke, what she cared about, and the way she described places like they had left something inside her.

She would talk about Kenya, about people she met in Istanbul, about hiking in Patagonia; not like someone who visited, but like someone who had experienced.

I kept wondering: what actually happened during that year?

When she explained the program to me, I was skeptical. Around a hundred students; nearly forty nationalities; seven regions; nine months; sessions on politics, environment, arts, food, youth engagement; travel across countries with fellowships in different regions.

It sounded too good to be true. But she was there; and she had changed in a way that could not be faked. So I applied.

What this year actually looks like

On paper, the structure is simple. You stay in a base city for around twenty days; during that time, you attend sessions, usually two or three a day; we would always learn everything during the morning duration - because our brains were fresh.

Then everything shifts.

The larger group splits into smaller groups; each group travels somewhere different for a week-long fellowship. Same starting point; completely different experiences.

In New York, some went to San Francisco; others to Charleston, New Orleans, Washington DC, even Mexico. When everyone came back, it felt like we had lived entirely different lives in the same week. People came back with stories you could not fully picture, references you did not share, experiences that changed them in ways you had not witnessed.

And you realize, quietly, that even within the same program, no two people are really having the same year.

That pattern repeats across countries, and at some point, you stop trying to keep up. You stop trying to capture everything; you just move through it.

By the time I reached India, my route looked like something out of a fictional itinerary: New Hampshire, New York, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Paris, Granada, Istanbul, Marrakech, the Atlas Mountains, Nairobi, Masai Mara; and then Delhi. From here, I went to Punjab for a weekend; yesterday, I was in Agra.

And in the middle of all that movement, there are small, quiet moments that stay with you more than the big ones; a conversation on a bus, a shared meal with people you met two days ago, a place you did not expect to matter but somehow does now.

When I write it like that, it feels exaggerated. But this is just what the year looks like.

The part people hesitate to ask about: money

Let’s not pretend this is not a major factor.

Yes, the program is expensive; but no, that is not the full story. There are real scholarships- not just symbolic ones, but actual financial aid that can significantly reduce the cost. Some students receive full coverage; others, like me, receive partial support that covers the core program expenses.

Flights during the program are covered. What you are responsible for are the flights from your home to the program at the beginning, and from the program back home at the end, along with personal spending and small daily costs.

And those daily costs matter more than people expect; laundry, occasional meals outside the schedule, small personal expenses; they add up.

So if money is the reason you are hesitating, question that hesitation properly. Is it impossible, or just unclear?

Because those are not the same thing.

Convincing my parents

This part is rarely talked about honestly, but in my case, it was not the biggest barrier.

I had already traveled internationally on my own before, including to the United States, so the idea of going abroad was not entirely new for my parents.

That said, it was still a significant decision. What helped was clarity; understanding the structure, the supervision, and what daily life would actually look like. Like any parent, they needed reassurance; not persuasion.

Because in the end, it is not just about permission.It is about trust.