My name is Brendan McCarthy (he/him), and I am currently the Athletic Director for the McAteer campus in San Francisco made up of two high schools (The Academy and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts). It is my tenth year at Academy/SOTA after 6 years of work at various other levels of education (pre-school, elementary, and middle school). I love working with high school-age students because their development to young adults is observable, exciting, and important. Moreover, I am extremely lucky to live and work in SF as we are surrounded by incredible diversity and opportunities at home. This will be my fourth trip with Global Glimpse. I have traveled to Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Panama. All three trips were incredibly impactful and special and have inspired me to follow Global Glimpse to the D.R. this year. I truly believe that travel is one of the most important factors to further our growth as individuals (and as a society); it helps us better understand ourselves, the world, and our potential effect on the future. I am so happy to again be a part of this Global Glimpse adventure and to get to know each Glimpser as well!