Written by Bridge Year Fellow Allyson Horst
December 29th, 2025
Hey hey! It’s been awhile…I know. But trust I have been having lots of fun since the last time we talked.
At the end of November, I said a teary goodbye to my students, friends, and colleagues at Maya Universe Academy in Nepal. It was one of the hardest goodbyes I’ve ever had. I felt like there was still so much I wanted to accomplish at the school, but with my Nepali visa nearing its expiration I had to leave.
Before I jetted off to Thailand for my next adventure, I found myself at a fancy café in Kathmandu the day before my flight. With my journal in hand and a masala tea ordered, I took time to reflect on the teaching takeaways I gained over the past three months in the classroom. My brain works in a series of bullet point lists and summaries so bear with me when reading these takeaways below.
→ Guidance. Patience. Guidance. Patience. Guidance. The duo that saves.
More is less. And sometimes more more is fine too. Give endless examples. Have the students repeat the instructions to you. Repeat them so many times that you wake up in the middle of the night reciting the instructions. Write everything on the board. And still, despite all of that, there will always be the questions: “what are we doing?”
Patience is a virtue, and it’s one I have learned in the classroom.
→ Freedom in class
I loved having the freedom to respond to my students in real time. If everyone was sleepy and disengaged – ok, let’s jump around and listen to a song, then lock back in. If it was a beautiful day and we were in the library, let’s take books outside and read in the grass.
This flexibility allowed me to accommodate my students and the vibe of the day. It also made lessons more fun for both me and them. Students aren’t meant to sit down at a desk all day; they learn by doing.
That said, this freedom also made me reflect on the fine line between structure and flexibility: having enough oversight to guide students, but not so much that it becomes overbearing. It’s especially difficult because every school, classroom, teacher, and student is unique, and a comfortable level of freedom looks different for everyone. And I wish I had the answer, but I suppose I’m still learning this fine-line myself.
→ Build a community not just a school
The sense of community at Maya was incredibly special. Teachers, volunteers, and administrators genuinely cared about the students. They knew their families, their home lives, and their struggles.
Everything was intentional. Every morning the entire school would gather and make a circle on the football field while holding hands. As a school we would do breathing exercises and in-person announcements in this school-wide circle. This connectivity, especially in the morning, gave students, teachers, and admin a moment to sit with this amazing community.
It was unlike anything I’ve seen in the states. This student-first mentality is foundational to building a supportive and effective learning environment.
→ Development is crazy
Education is everything and sometimes that can be scary.
Once students attend high school in Nepal, the curriculum is primarily in English. This includes math, science, grammar, and history all taught in English. For this reason, Maya taught English from early grades and expected students to be fully proficient in English by at least Grade 6.
However, it was common that students enrolled in the school at a later grade, thus they may not have had the same exposure to English as their peers. This immediately sets the student back in not only English composition classes, but rather all subjects since they are taught in English. You could have one of the smartest students in math, but if they have difficulty in English they will score poorly. I had a hard enough time taking Calculus in high school in my native language; Calculus in Spanish would be out of the question.
If language development doesn’t start early, students can struggle for years to come. This situation can alter the course of a student’s education journey and most importantly their relationship with learning.
Education builds on itself and when there are cracks early on, they’re hard to repair. In other words, development is crazy.
→ I have taken so much for granted in my educational journey.
I thought I had it tough at times in my large public school. Now I realize how privileged I was, not just to attend a structured school with certified teachers, but to be educated in the United States.
Running water, reliable electricity, air-conditioning, and clean facilities are not guarantees, they are privileges. While my school wasn’t perfect, it is nothing to take for granted. This experience gave me perspective that I couldn’t have gained without being in Nepal.
→ Have fun!
They aren’t just students – they are kids. Kids! They are at most 15 years old; they are trying to figure out this whole school thing. Mistakes are to be expected – may those be trivial mistakes on an assignment or sitting in the principal’s office for the day. They are just kids at the end of the day so have fun and teach! Keep it simple!
Alright back to the regularly scheduled program. I spent about two weeks in Thailand and another two weeks in Vietnam after leaving Nepal. By no means was this planned before I left the states in August. I figured I was so close to SE Asia so why not visit some places. And I am so glad I decided to dabble in some solo travel before going home for the holidays. I learned a lot about Thailand and Vietnam, and, cheesily enough, about myself.
Thailand was so so beautiful. From the busy night markets in Bangkok to the calm shorelines of Hua Hin, to the ancient temples in Chiang Mai, I felt like I got a taste of a little bit of everything. One of my favorite memories was renting a bicycle in a national park south of Hua Hin and riding along the empty coastlines before eating lunch in a pine forest. Complete peace. I loved it.
That said, it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine on this trip. I had my fair share of breakdowns during my first true solo international trip. It started with an 11-hour overnight bus ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Then I discovered that my hotel was next to a dance club only when I was going to sleep. A mixture of loneliness and pure exhaustion made me want to book a one-way flight home.
Deep breathe in. Deep breathe out.
The next morning, I moved to a new accommodation and spent the day doing things that I actually wanted to do; nothing that I felt like I should be doing or something I found on a must-see tourist list online. It was great! I wandered through an art market and spent three hours painting a fish. It was super random, but exactly what I needed. Sometimes things don’t work out, so let’s figure it out.
I can’t talk about this trip without mentioning the historic Chiang Mai crashout of 2025. But honestly, based on my social media you wouldn’t have known I was struggling at this point in my travels. The highs are high and the lows are low. That’s solo travel for you, and it’s not always what you see online.
Now for Vietnam!! Wow. I had the most incredible time in Hanoi and Ha Giang. I spent a few days in Hanoi enjoying the food, shopping, and museums heading out on a four-day motorbike trip through northern Vietnam. To say I loved the Ha Giang loop would be an understatement. The mountains, rivers, villages, and flatlands were some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Also my group that I traveled with was so fun to be with!
I seriously couldn’t recommend the Ha Giang loop enough – it was phenomenal. One of my favorite memories from Vietnam was singing and dancing to the iconic song “Baby” with some new friends I met on the trip. Justin Bieber you are an international legend. I have a feeling I’ll be back to Vietnam to explore more!
Allyson what are you up to now? A whole lot of nothing. It’s been lovely after averaging 15,000 steps a day for the past month. Lately, I have been trying to romanticize US café culture, but I fear it is a losing battle.
I leave for my teaching certification training in Guatemala in mid-January and before that I’ll be visiting Chapel Hill for FWOC!
There are many more stories and updates, but I have the impossible mission to save café culture in the US so I’ll be busy for a little bit.
Until then!
Allyson