Just a few months after graduation, Taylor Holloran ’16 spends his mornings navigating rush hour traffic in Phnom Penh instead of racing to class after breakfast at Servo.
He’s living in the capital of Cambodia as part of a year-long fellowship with the Princeton in Asia (PiA) program. While he calls the city itself a radical change from Gettysburg—and from any other city he has found himself in, too—the experience has taught him a lot about the world and his relation to it.
“Every time I learn something new, it emphasizes to me how little I used to know. It’s like being in the middle of this growing expanse, where I realize I know so much less than I thought, and in the other direction I’m realizing there is so much more to learn than I ever could have imagined,” Holloran explained.
“But it’s not overwhelming. It’s satisfying to realize I know proportionally less than I thought I did. You get better at appreciating what you do know.”
Learning to learn
Questioning conventional beliefs and operating in a framework of unknown answers is something that Holloran is familiar with. As a philosophy major, it is something that he is more than comfortable with—it’s what drew him to the major in the first place.
Taylor Holloran ’16 (l) playing Ultimate Frisbee.
“We would discuss questions and problems and figure out how to arrive at an answer; we learned how to effectively and substantially question the answers we were given,” Holloran said. “To learn that you are allowed to question everything, and to do it with the guidance of professors of extraordinary caliber was the greatest privilege of my time at Gettysburg.”
He came to Gettysburg knowing just how quickly his four years here would pass by, and was determined to get involved in academic opportunities and activities that mattered most to him. As a result, he declared a major in philosophy early on and developed strong relationships with his professors. He joined the Ultimate Frisbee team and became the team captain by his senior year. He impacted sophomore community spaces by working as a Residence Life student staff member, and was the philanthropy chair for his Greek organization, Phi Delta Theta.
“I’m glad I took every opportunity I could to get involved in this or that corner of the school,” Holloran said. “I think the things that are really worth regretting are the things you don’t do, and I don’t have any of those regrets when I think of Gettysburg.”
Getting the job
It was in the middle of his senior year that Holloran first heard about PiA and decided to apply. He was looking for an opportunity to travel and continue to learn, and loved what he heard about the century-old fellowship program for ambitious college graduates.
“A program as well established in Asia as PiA is hard to find,” Holloran explained.
As the days until Commencement dwindled, though, Holloran’s hopes to work abroad diminished.
“I had given up on the idea that I was going to get a job before graduating, and instead began looking at internships and job hunting from home,” Holloran said. “There had been a time when I was considering packing up everything and moving to Asia, but financial realities caved in around me, and it felt impossible. I had written off that idea completely.”
That is, he had written off the idea until he received a phone call from the Princeton in Asia (PiA) program mere days before Commencement. He had applied to the program back in December, and while he had been interviewed, he hadn’t heard anything since.
“It was three days before graduation when PiA called and asked if I would be interested in moving to Cambodia to work for a year in the capitol,” Holloran said. “I walked off the stage at Commencement, hugged my family, got into my car and drove straight to Princeton. I may have still had the cap on—I don’t remember. It was such a whirlwind weekend.”
Working abroad
Through PiA, Holloran was placed in the Cambodian offices of ChildFund Australia, an international organization with offices in 63 countries and an impact on over 14 million children. Holloran’s office works with over 15,000 children, providing them with libraries, gardens, school buildings, reading supplies, and even bathrooms—everything they need to learn in a safe environment reach their full potential.
Holloran is their Program Associate on Communication and Documentation, working to develop project proposals, continuing to grow existing projects, and fulfilling the translation needs within his office when he can.
“My job is to communicate the ideas of people I can’t necessarily communicate with,” Holloran said. “I have the tools to do the work, but what I’m learning is the patience and understanding it takes to work in an office where I don’t speak the language.”
He is also developing a new sense of confidence with his goals while also being open to different opportunities, continual learning, and personal and professional development abroad.
“I’m lucky that the work I’m doing is valuable for me professionally. To be getting workplace experience in the office of an international company is incredible,” Holloran said. “To be put in a society where you constantly have to reflect on what you’re experiencing is important. It keeps you present, and it will change you.”