My name is Erik Contreras and I will be one of your Global Glimpse Leaders in a few short weeks. It is pretty crazy to think that we will be leaving the U.S so soon. It feels as though this year has just flown by. For the last few summers I have had the blessing of traveling with Global Glimpse and working alongside some incredible students from all over the Bay Area.

I work at James Logan High home of the Colts. I run the schools Alternative Center, it is where students are sent instead of being suspended from school. So I get to meet some interesting characters through out my day here. Lets see, A little about me. Recently my family has been really into Disneyland, visiting the park and watching the movies and all of that. I enjoy reading and writing however lately I have been binge watching Netflix everything from Kimmy Schmidt to Criminal Minds. I have been checking the weather app and seeing the 80-90 degrees with the thunderbolt logo next to it, has me buying more shorts and tank tops. But, I have been sitting in the steam room at the gym trying to prepare myself for our trip.

Through Global Glimpse I have had the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua and Ecuador and spend time with communities, get my hands dirty in the field and create some great memories. I love seeing similarities between local and Bay Area students and seeing how both may have the same struggles and how we can over come them.

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My name is Van Anh Tran and I am your other Global Glimpse Leader for this trip. I am so excited to meet you all and to experience this with you. This will be my first year with Global Glimpse. As we are all preparing for our trip that is LESS THAN ONE MONTH AWAY, I can hardly think about anything else.

I am currently the 10th grade Modern World II teacher at a small charter school in East San Jose called Summit Public Schools: Rainier. I love learning, analyzing, and challenging historical narratives. I am originally from Garden Grove in Southern California, but have since been adopted by the Bay Area. My family lives about 10 minutes down the street from Disneyland, but the picture you see here is actually the first and only time that I have been to Disneyland.   I came from a predominantly Vietnamese and Spanish speaking community and have done my best to make sure that I know these languages. Please talk to me about: dogs, traveling, food, books, movies, TV, politics, photography, and issues relating to social justice and activism. I am a huge Marvel fan and would love to discuss what you think will happen in all the blockbusters that will be coming out in the next few years.

I became a GGL because I believe that the things we learn in the classroom have very little meaning if we do not have the experiences that make our education tangible. Through Global Glimpse, I hope to learn alongside you all and be able to see the structural connections and common struggles across our communities. From there, I believe that we will be able to determine what our role is in this increasingly globalized world. At the end of the day, know that we are all in this together!