Before Nina Payne’s trip to Peru with DCPS Study Abroad, she had never been out of the United States and rarely left DC. “The whole trip was life changing. It made me realize I wanted to travel more, learn a language, and do more to help people in other countries somehow,” says Nina. She will have the opportunity to continue to travel this fall through Global Citizen Year, a gap year program that will allow Nina to live in Ecuador for eight months. “I heard about the program and I knew I had to apply. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Through the fully-funded program, Nina will live with a host family, learn Spanish, and complete an apprenticeship. When Nina returns from her gap year, she will enroll at Old Dominion University for School Year 2020-2021 and plans on continuing her interest in global studies by majoring in international business. At Phelps ACE High School, Nina has excelled and recently won the school’s courage award, says her former teacher Sergeant Sampleton. “Nina is that student that a teacher looks forward to because she’s going to challenge you in the classroom,” says Sergeant Sampleton. “She goes right along with our mission of motivating young people to be better citizens.” At Phelps, Nina has majored in architecture, a topic she had not previously explored. “I would never have gotten into something like that if it wasn’t for Phelps. I learned how to do things I wouldn’t imagine I would ever know how to do.” #DCPSGoesToCollege
