PBS高端访谈:我们要走出舒适地带（在线收听）

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Now we turn to another installment of our weekly Brief But Spectacular series, where we ask people about their passions. Abby Falik is the founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year, a nonprofit in Oakland, California, that recruits and trains a diverse group of American high school students to work abroad before they head off to college.

ABBY FALIK, Founder and CEO, Global Citizen Year: When I graduated from high school, I was exhausted. I was like one of those excellent sheep. I was really good at playing the school game. I was good at what I was doing. But I was hungry for the why. I called the Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C. And I said, hey, here I am. Will you take me now? They said, little girl, go to college. We will see you in four years. And I remember how frustrating it was when I was 18 to have enthusiasm and time and an interest in doing something outside of my comfort zone, but not being able to find a way. The pressures on today's high school students is unprecedented. The orientation around getting into a selective college means that perfect records are valued more than authentic exploration, risk-taking, failure, reflection. So it's really hard to get out of high school today and actually know what you genuinely care about. And when kids get to college, what we're seeing are record levels of stress and anxiety. And we see that a third of college freshmen don't come back for a second year. And, on average, kids are taking six years to get through four-year colleges. What happens when you take a young person out of their comfort zone and out away from the people who have defined who they are, the social media profile they have invented for themselves, the expectations that their family and community might have for them, that removal from that context forces you to see yourself in a completely new light. We work with a dean who likes to say, well, everyone takes a gap year. It's called freshman year. It's kind of funny, and it's kind of not, because somebody is making the biggest single investment in this young person's education, whether it's a parent or the government through some kind of Pell Grants or federal loan. At Global Citizen, your experience is a deep community immersion. You live with a host family. You work as what we call an apprentice, supporting a local project; 95 percent of our alums are in college and on track to graduate in four years or less. And that same percentage holds for the proportion of our kids who are low-income. Colleges love to brag about the numbers of kids who are studying abroad, and that's definitely on the rise. But when you actually look at the data, what we're seeing is that the vast majority of kids go to Western Europe, live with other Americans, are often speaking English. We want young people to be humbled, to sit with the discomfort of not yet being able to speak to people in their own language, to recognize that they're not there to problem-solve. They're there to explore what the local solutions might actually be. My name is Abby Falik. And this is my Brief But Spectacular take on preparing a new generation of leaders.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You can find additional episodes of Brief But Spectacular on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.

威廉·布兰格姆：感谢收看我台周更的系列节目《简短而精彩》，在这档节目中，我们会采访不同的人，看看他们的挚爱是什么。艾比·法里克是全球公民年的创始人兼首席执行官。这家公司位于加州的奥克兰，是一家非盈利公司。他的公司专门录用美国高中生，并对他们进行培训，这样他们在上大学之前就有海外工作的经历了。

艾比·法里克，全球公民年创始人、首席执行官：我高中毕业的时候，觉得不想继续上学了。我就跟很多优秀的学生一样。很擅长在学校里发光发热，很擅长自己所做的事情。但我很想知道原因。于是我给华盛顿特区的美国和平部队总部打了电话。我说，我来了。你们会接收我吗？他们说：小女孩啊，还是去上大学吧。4年后见。我还记得那时候我很沮丧，因为18岁的我有激情、时间和兴趣去走出舒适区，但却不知道怎么做。今天的高中生承受着前所未有的压力。大家对选择性大学的趋之若鹜表明：与真正的探索，以及承受风险、失败和反思相比，优秀的记录更受到重视。所以，高中毕业后，很少有人会知道自己真正在意什么。孩子们步入大学校园的时候，身上只有巨大的压力和不安。我们也注意到，1/3的大学新生都会降级再读一年。学生一般需要6年时间才能读完4年大学。想实现转变，就要让年轻人走出舒适区，远离那些给他们设定条条框框的人，远离他们为自己创造的社交形象，放下家人和社群对他们的期望，远离了这种大环境，就能看到新的曙光。我们跟一位院长合作，他也支持学生暂休一年。也就是所谓的新生年。这是有趣而又严肃的事，因为有人会孤注一掷地投入在年轻人的教育中，无论是父母还是通过佩尔助奖学金或者联邦贷款进行投资的政府。在全球公民年可以体会到深切的社群投入。要跟寄宿家庭生活在一起。会以学徒的身份工作，以支持当地的某个项目；95%的校友都在大学或者争取早一点毕业。学生中也有同样比重的人拿着低收入。学校都喜欢标榜自己送出国留学的学生数量，这个数量肯定是在上升的。但当我们仔细看数据的时候，会发现绝大部分学生都去了西欧，跟其他美国人一起生活，通常还是说英语。我们希望年轻人谦卑做人，跟说着同样语言的人共坐一桌时，能为不能与他们攀谈而感到难受，他们要认识到傻傻坐着并不能解决问题。他们去那里是为了探索当地可能的解决方案。我是艾比·法里克，这里就是我为培养新一代领袖所做的一期《简短而精彩》。

威廉·布兰格姆：想要了解更多《简短而精彩》的集锦，可以登录PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief。