Who am I?

Many of you have read the article in the monitor, or heard my conversation with Doris Ballard on Coffee Chat. But too few people understand my reasoning behind my campaign to raise $50,000. So here goes, a brief overview of my journey to the organization and the cause that will surely change the rest of my life:

My name is Ben Broadbent. In June I graduated from Concord High School. Ten months before that I was beginning the long and treacherous adventure of applying to college. This is where my troubles truly began.

Many people have doubts when applying to college. They doubt themselves, their abilities, their choices for college, major and all that other future-determining nonsense. Though I did have a fair share of this doubt, it was accompanied by another, greater sense of incorrectness and dread. I envisioned my life in college, the people I would surely meet and befriend. I thought about my classes, and the volumes of knowledge that I would absorb in pursuit of a major yet decided. But instead of excitement, I felt nauseous. I wasn't completely sure why yet, or whether I was actually just sick, but it nonetheless caused me to drag my feet through the application process, putting my mother on the brink of a mental break down.

Fast forward a month or so, it's now October, the air is colder, the night sooner, my mother even closer to insanity. The thought of college still sickened me, so I decided to forget about it and concentrate on school. In my Anatomy and Physiology class we were conducting a schaible. A schaible is a student led discussion about an article, book, or any similar material that a teacher decides to assign. Our schaible was on an article about Malaria, and for me this was a very good thing. A love for science is one of the many things I took from AP Biology, and Concord High in general. But this article was different than I had expected. As intrigued as I was by the incredible immunosuppresive abilities of Plasmodium Falciporum (the most deadly strand of the malaria virus) I was even more alarmed at the statistics that the article gave. Three out of every five children in Sub-Saharan Africa die from Malaria before their fifth birthday!... What!?!? Here I am worrying about college, about my future, and there are hundreds of thousands of kids the same age as my little brother dying from a disease that can be easily combated, if only enough people cared! How selfish would I be if I spent the next four years of my privileged life bettering my future, and my life when I knew of the horrific tragedies going on in the world...

Fast forward to April, my applications have been sent out; some of the stress is gone. I am having a meeting with my guidance counselor and hysterical mother. As we are talking about my college angst the "G" word gingerly slipped from my mothers lips. Aha! I thought. A GAP year, taking the year off, using my energy, my passion, for something and someone other than myself. That’s why I felt nauseous thinking about college, I wasn't ready, true. But I also had other, very important things to do. I needed to get active...

Another month slips by and its May. I am on the internet, finally excited about my plans. At this point I have been accepted at a number of colleges and universities, all of which I declined. It felt good, I was on my way. I was writing an email to the executive director of one of the organizations (Global Roots) I was considering participating in during my GAP year. What intrigued me was how sincere the organization seemed to be about helping people. It was a young organization founded in 2001, but that excited me too. (I was reading Three Cups of Tea, so I was all about helping the young up and coming organization.) A few weeks, a number of exciting email conversations, and three gallons of coffee later, I had a mission and Bingo was its name-o.

$50,000 or bust... There will be doubters, haters, and faithless opponents, but I say anything is possible. Bigger mountains have been moved, greater obstacles overcome, and far fewer cups of coffee have been drunk…. I’m ready and I hope you are too.

For more information abotu Global Roots check out website at: www.globalroots.org