‘A life-changing opportunity’: Alumni share how Bridge Year transformed their college experience and continues to shape their lives

Dr. Claire Ashmead, Class of 2017, began her Princeton education by spending nine months in China through the University’s Novogratz Bridge Year Program for global learning through community service. The experience was transformative and continues to shape her more than a decade later.

“I don’t think I would be the same person today if I had not done Bridge Year,” said Ashmead, an internal medicine resident at the Mayo Clinic who studied history, creative writing, and Chinese language and culture at Princeton.

John Bullock, Class of 2023, feels similarly, saying, “Bridge Year instilled in me a desire to become more of a global citizen and to work in a field in service to others in the world.” Bullock is now a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and will join the Veterinary Corps after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Since 2009, more than 370 undergraduates have participated in Bridge Year, which allows incoming students to spend nine months engaged in community-based service-learning experiences in five international locations. The tuition-free program is open to all members of Princeton’s newly admitted class, who may apply to participate before starting their first year on campus.

Ashmead and Bullock are among the many alumni who say Bridge Year had a profound influence on their lives — expanding their worldviews, allowing them to grow and thrive as students and instilling a commitment to service. Through Bridge Year, they discovered new passions, examined new career paths, gained confidence and made lifelong connections.

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