In 2025, Mundi is Making Moves

As we wrap up 2024 and venture into 2025, Carpe Mundi is preparing for a few big moves in the new year.

First, we’ll be physically moving our space!

Our longtime partner Carpe Diem is going fully remote starting in 2025 and will close down the physical office in February. Carpe Mundi will continue to use the office/house on N. Killingsworth St. until our students depart in February. We’re determining our future needs for programming space and exploring options in Portland that will best support those needs. While we’ll miss our in-person time with Carpe Diem colleagues and the coziness of the basement, we’re excited to see what new partnerships will develop in our local community as we change our space.


We’re planning an Open House Farewell-to-the-Office Party on January 9th at 5:30! Snacks, refreshments, and good vibes provided - RSVP here to get more party updates. 

After Feb. 7, 2025, you’ll no longer find us on N. Killingsworth St. If you’d like to meet in person you can email or call to schedule a time and place. You can send any physical mail to our new PO Box: 

Carpe Mundi 

PO Box 11713 

Portland, OR 97211

The second move is regarding our programming.

Starting this spring, all Carpe Mundi students will travel through our partner organization, Where There Be Dragons (WTBD). WTBD has developed a custom program for the Carpe Mundi cohort that will travel to Thailand and Cambodia this spring, and two students will be traveling with a WTBD group to Bolivia and Peru. Students will earn credits from the University of Montana - a new partner university that came to fruition this fall. We’re gearing up to recruit students for our 2025-2026 cohort, who will also travel with WTBD. 

WTBD has been running experiential international programming for over 30 years, and Carpe Mundi has partnered with them since 2021, sending Carpe Mundi students to Senegal, Nepal and Bolivia/Peru. We’re excited to deepen this partnership and are grateful for WTBD’s commitment to making its programs accessible to all students. To learn more about WTBD, visit their website here. 

As Carpe Mundi is making these shifts, our dear friends and colleagues at Carpe Diem are making some shifts of their own, taking the spring to reorient their programs to focus more intently on climate change. We are excited to see more about what those shifts will look like and how Carpe Mundi students might engage with their programming in the future. 


Our mission and students remain at the forefront of everything we do as we continue to provide our students with scholarships, mentorship, a peer learning cohort, and an international learning experience, even while some of the pieces involved behind the scenes are shifting. We see new potential on the horizon and are thrilled that WTBD will be more involved with our programming moving forward. 


We are grateful to everyone who supports our students and our programming. Community is what makes Carpe Mundi so special. If you have any questions about these upcoming changes, please feel free to reach out. 

With gratitude,

Rachel Anderholder and the Carpe Mundi Staff and Board 


PS - If you have a suggestion for a great space close to public transportation that emphasizes community, please let us know! We’re excited to embark on this next adventure and welcome input on where our next home should be.

A fond farewell to Carol John

Carol John has stepped away from her role at Carpe Mundi as of October 31st. Carol and her husband Josh are officially completing their move to Philadelphia to be closer to family and watch the Eagles fly. Carol joined Carpe Mundi in July of 2019 and has been an integral member of the Carpe Mundi team and community ever since. Carol joined Carpe Mundi as a program director, mentoring students here in Portland and leading groups abroad in Guatemala, Ecuador, Thailand/Cambodia. In 2023, Carol transitioned from the Program Director role and served as our first-ever Development and Communications Manager.

Carol and the Pon Lue cohort at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, 2023.

Carol is a beloved mentor who cares deeply for Carpe Mundi students and alumni and continually goes above and beyond to support each student in the needed way. However, Carol’s impact on the Carpe Mundi community extended beyond her role as a mentor and facilitator. Carol also was a huge force in leveling up Carpe Mundi’s communications, branding, and overall digital presence. She is a talented graphic design artist who has helped our community see Carpe Mundi in a new way. Carol was an integral part of the team that defined Carpe Mundi’s organizational impacts and conducted our first-ever long-term evaluation. Carol brought a genuine curiosity to Carpe Mundi, and her thoughtfulness and excellent questions helped Carpe Mundi evolve into a more equitable, socially responsible, and professional organization. Plus, she ensured we were all laughing and having fun doing it. While departing from her role at Carpe Mundi, she will always be a cherished member of this community, and her contributions will continue to shape the organization for years to come. Carol, thank you. We wish you the best of luck in your next adventure.

Carol in Guatemala, 2020

Carol at the Qaasid Cohort orientation in 2023 in Portland

Carol in Ecuador, 2022

Carol with the staff and board at the 2024 Un-Gala

As an organization dedicated to supporting students in being informed and engaged global citizens, we feel compelled to acknowledge the immense human suffering and loss that is happening in Palestine. While there are many conflicts happening around the globe that we don’t mean to look away from, Gaza, in particular, stands out to our staff as needing an acknowledgement, as our current students are organically sharing their thoughts and struggles on both the war and on ongoing demonstrations and anti-war protests at PSU. 

At Carpe Mundi we believe in a common humanity, that every life is precious, and that all humans deserve access to a full life. As a team, we are overwhelmed, disheartened, angry, and distressed at the current state of destruction, violence, death, displacement, and suffering. And we struggle with how we can make a difference and fight for peace. We imagine we’re not the only ones in our community feeling this way. 

In times of despair, it’s helpful to focus on what we can do. At Carpe Mundi, what we can do is lean into our mission of supporting more students to be globally minded individuals. We believe that international learning experiences open our eyes in a new way to what is happening in the world, both the beautiful and the tragic. Only by opening ourselves to new experiences and perspectives, can we be advocates for the world we want to cultivate. International experiences aren’t only meant for collecting memories, or seeing the most beautiful sites, they also serve as a way to learn more about the challenges and movements that are taking place throughout the world. In learning about global communities, it’s important to see nuance, acknowledge harm, hold space for hard conversations, and keep our minds open to seeing things in a different way. Right now, as a team, we are working on practicing these principles with each other and our current students, as we continue to educate ourselves and follow along with the crisis in Palestine and movements happening in the US. We are following social media accounts that share updates, are educating ourselves more deeply on the history of the region, and we are holding space for our current students to share their opinions, feelings, and frustrations with each other. We must seek to understand, engage in hard conversations, and find ways to take actions that resonate with us as individuals. 

In an effort to embody our mission with our community, we are sharing some resources below that we’ve found useful. We also invite others to share space and connect. If you’re struggling with what’s going on in the world, please reach out, you’re not alone. We’re always open to having conversations, listening, and sharing ideas. 

From Portland to Palestine, and everywhere in between, we believe all young people deserve dignity, justice, and the resources to reach their full potential. We stand with our students past, present, and future. Please stay safe. We love you. 

Resources: 

ACTION NEEDED: Advocate for continuing use of financial aid for study abroad

What’s going on: 

You might have heard that as of a few years ago, Carpe Mundi students lost access to financial aid (FAFSA) for their Carpe Mundi experience due to a federal audit of PSU. We got word last week that the Federal Department of Education is changing its guidance on the use of Title IV Funding (which means FAFSA, Pell Grants, and Direct Loans, among other financial aid) for “third party services” (organizations like Carpe Diem/Carpe Mundi and many others). 

The proposed guidance states that Title IV funding cannot be used by students “if the servicer (or its subcontractors) is located outside of the United States or is owned or operated by an individual who is not a U.S. citizen or national or a lawful U.S. permanent resident. This prohibition applies to both foreign and domestic institutions.” 

What we understand this to mean: 

  • This is way bigger than just Carpe Mundi.

  • Starting on September 1, 2023 students at any US institution won’t be able to use their financial aid for study abroad programs that are run by an entity outside of the university. 

  • We fear this means that financial aid won't be accessible for nearly any study abroad experience.

We see this is a huge equity issue!! Financial aid is instrumental in increasing access to study abroad programs for low-income students. Without it, our fear is that even fewer Pell-eligible students will be able to access study-abroad opportunities. 

What you can do about it:

  1. Submit comments regarding the guidance presented in this Dear Colleague Letter before March 30, 2023 via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at Regulations.gov, under Docket ID ED-2022-OPE-0103. You can either type in your comments directly, or upload a PDF of your letter.

    1. Here’s a template to get you started if you need support!

  2. Submit your commentary via the steps above AND write to your federal representatives.

    1. Make sure you mention the name of the guidance: (GEN-23-03) Requirements and Responsibilities for Third-Party Servicers and Institutions (Updated Feb. 28, 2023).

    2. Find contact information for your Congressperson here 

    3. Find contact information for your Senators here

Carpe Diem Southeast Asia Itinerary

This year’s PDXChange program has 10 students traveling to Southeast Asia with Carpe Diem. Here’s what is in store for them:

The group will take a few days in the historic Siem Reap to settle in and adjust to their new surroundings.  With expert guidance, students will orient to travel and to Cambodia, learning about it’s ancient and recent history and the country’s regeneration and reconciliation efforts.

Angkor Wat from kimkim.

From there, the group will spend over a week in Battambang to learn from a local NGO about community and youth development.

The group will venture down to the lake to stay with homestay families who live off of the lake. Students will learn about some of the challenges affecting the communities on the lake and meet with local NGOs working to address them and contribute to environmental and educational projects.

The group heads back to the big city of Phnom Penh to take in the solemn sites of Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields. Here the group will continue to learn about the not so distant genocide that took place in Cambodia.  The group will also take some time to see celebration of life, where young Cambodians meet and mingle and learn about an NGO using dance to give kids a different kind of outlet.

From Go Guides

The group will continue to learn from young people when they visit an intentional community dedicated to resilience and regeneration while sleeping in tents under the open sky.

Then, in Kampot, students will spend a few days planting mangroves and stand up paddleboarding while learning about the impact on the local community.

From Workaway

Students will get a brief introduction to Theravada Buddhism at a retreat before heading off to the big city of Bangkok in Thailand.

Students will get their first taste of planning as they arrange their time around arts and culture in the big, dynamic fast paced city of Bangkok.  

From there, students will travel to the northern Thai city of Udon Thani to spend a week in an eco village. Here students will learn more about yoga, permaculture, natural building and explore creative solutions to increase sustainable practices.

Tourism Authority of Thailand

Students travel even further north to learn about the diverse hill tribe communities and human rights issues through homestays and local NGO’s while participating in service learning.

The time in Thailand finishes up with students guiding the direction of the group’s time before they head back home from Chiang Mai.

Where there be Dragons - Nepal itinerary

Our students Kilani and Samantha are traveling with Where There Be Dragons to Nepal and depart this Friday, February 10th. Here’s what is in store for them:

After landing, the group will stay in the shadow of the great Boudhanath Stupa, one of the world’s largest Buddhist monuments and the anchor of Kathmandu’s largest Buddhist community, and spend our first several days settling into Nepal, getting to know each other, and starting to explore. With morning walks to the Stupa, lots of tea breaks (!), there is plenty of time to orient, relax and overcome jet-lag.

From Boudha, the group will hike for several days into the Himalayan foothills, with lots of big ups and down across the gorgeous hills. Hiking through villages, fields, and forests will give a glimpse of the character of life in rural Nepal.

The group arrives at the ancient city of Patan in the center of the Kathmandu Valley, with breathtakingly intricate heritage and history that has thrived over many centuries. Here the group will live with families indigenous to Patan - a city of artisans, devotees, and an ancient spirit in the modern world. They will begin to learn Nepali and learn things wood carving and metalwork, yoga, traditional music, and dance.

East of Dhukillel, the group will spend hours each day engaging with another set of families – from harvesting crops to feeding cattle to carrying firewood, sipping tea on the porch, playing with village children, and more. They will also discuss issues of service, development, rural identity, and spirituality.

Next will be Namo Buddha, an important Tibetan Buddhist monastery perched atop a hill east of the Kathmandu Valley, where we will participate in a meditation retreat for one week.

After they bid goodbye to Namo Buddha, the group will embark on a two week long trek in the majestic Nepali Himalaya. The trek will take us to the heart of the mountains, the north central range of the Himalaya in Nepal soaring higher than 26000ft.

After the conclusion of our trek, the group will begin the Expedition Phase which are days left intentionally unplanned so that the group can find the best place to go based on their interests and thoughts.

Lastly, they finish up their time with rest, relaxation, and celebration in the hills of Pharping before returning back home!

Evaluation Updates

As we evaluate another program year, our findings remain consistent. Students continue to see how even their small actions make a difference. Many continue to clarify their goals through this program and feel reconnected to their goals.

One new finding this year is in large a result of the pandemic. Many students struggled with isolation during the pandemic. However, it is in community and socializing that confidence is often built up. Thanks to participating in a facilitated space that is intended to foster learning and positive connection, many students combatted their social anxiety.

“Before, I had really bad anxiety talking or interacting with anyone in my community. Couldn’t even ride the max or bus in case I had to talk to the driver. That was pretty much no interaction. 

[On the program] I had to interact with a lot of new people and live with strangers that were not people that I would have interacted with normally…I don’t know how to explain it. It felt like I was doing something more.

[Now] I feel like I can help out a little bit more than I thought. Before, if someone asks for help, I’d be like nope sorry. But now trying to help them a little bit is better than nothing. If everyone made some difference, then eventually those small differences would become something bigger.”

For many students returning home also poses its own challenges, namely the awareness that you cannot expect others to change along with you. However, many of them are continuing to seek ways to stay in the community, maintain their growth, and stay committed to their personal and professional goals even if the way forward is only a little more clear than before.