Instead of traveling to New York this fall to start at Cornell University, Eojin Choi ’14 will travel to Nepal to start her gap year.

Choi, who is one of the winners of this year’s Brownstein Fellowship, will spend time in four different countries over the course of her travels. In Nepal, Choi will work as a health education volunteer, teaching about disease prevention, nutrition and hygiene. She will then go to the Galapagos Islands, where she will study conservation and biodiversity.

Choi will then spend the winter at home, celebrating the holidays with her family and working to earn money to fund the rest of her trip.

Choi will also volunteer as a journalist in Tanzania and work on a farm in New Zealand in exchange for food and housing.

“I don’t know how I’m going to survive this,” Choi said.

In each country, Choi will participate in homestays. Choi previously traveled to Mongolia, where she used gestures to communicate.

“[Traveling] is something I enjoy, and I think it’ll help prepare me for college, both personally and academically,” Choi said. “I don’t think I’m ready to move on from high school yet, since I’m not even sure what I want to study. I think it’ll be helpful to broaden my perspectives and have a year to myself.”