About Us

Golden Ticket Award, a non-profit entity located in Half Moon Bay, provides funds for international travel to exceptional high school graduates. We believe that travel leads to cultural appreciation and contributes to a more peaceful world where differences are understood and celebrated. Travel has the power to inspire global solutions by opening our minds and hearts to the intrinsic value of different cultures, countries, ethnicities, races, and customs. Golden Ticket Award seeks to remove financial barriers to these immersive experiences through scholarships for high school graduates seeking to broaden their horizons through international travel because we believe that inspired global citizens change the world.

Our Mission

To remove financial barriers to travel for graduating seniors who seek to broaden their horizons through international travel.

INSPIRATION

Why I created this travel scholarship

My Uncle Joel was a dreamer and a doer and he left this Earth much too soon. In his wake, he left me a small amount of money to be used for educational purposes. I used it to fund a Spanish language learning program in Costa Rica. The month-long program set me up with room and board with a family in the capitol, San Jose. I took Spanish lessons at the Universidad de Costa Rica. I was able to explore the country on the weekends. I traveled for hours on bus and then boat to get to Tortuguero, a village with no cars!  I was 18 years old. Not only was it my first trip out of the United States, it was my first trip solo–no family or friends. It was an amazing experience and it absolutely changed my life and the way I saw the world. I want to open doors to this kind of amazing opportunity for others, so I created this scholarship. 

 ~Colby Droubi, Founder and Chair

OUR LEADERSHIP

Colby Droubi

Founder & chair

I am blessed to live and work in Half Moon Bay, California. It is a small coastal town, mostly famous for pumpkins and world-class surfing (Mavericks). It has just about everything one could need and yet, I still long to see and experience more of the world through travel. One of my favorite travel memories is from Malawi’s Likoma Island. One morning, I hiked into the Khuyu village to check out a factory (Katundu) that makes all of these fantastic chandeliers out of garbage collected on the island (glass bottles, cans, wood from old fishing boats). I did not buy a chandelier; however, I did get a lesson in kindness from a young girl named Lucy. She was talking to a friend, when she noticed me meandering along the road, probably looking lost. I was definitely feeling lost. She immediately ran over to introduce herself. When I told her I was looking for the factory, she grabbed my hand and led me up the hill deeper into the village. As we walked, she peppered me with questions. She asked me how old I was, where I was from and if I was in school. She shared information about herself, pointing out her friends and asking me to take her picture so I could remember her. She also very much wanted to see what a picture of her looked like in my camera. When we got to the schoolhouse, her classmates all ran out of the school building, dancing around me and saying hello. It was the warmest welcome I think I’ve ever experienced. I was taken aback by their openness and generosity and I was so grateful for their friendship. Afterwards, I spent time reflecting on the kindness I experienced. I couldn’t help but wonder, who I am when outsiders visit my village. Would I grab their hand and walk them through town to make sure they don’t miss the turn to where they are going? I think I would. To me, this is the power of travel.

Casey McClung

Secretary

I traveled to France in September 2001 and, like millions of other people, I fell in love with the culture, the language, and the food. Yet, it wasn’t until I stayed in a tiny village in the Champagne region that I fell in love with the people.  On September 10th, I enjoyed a lively dinner with a couple who had lived through the Nazi occupation and I listened to firsthand accounts of heroism, terror, and the joy of liberation as American troops marched through the village.  On September 11th, I watched on a tiny television in the backroom of a small winery as the Twin Towers crumbled. A few days later, I was in Paris for a moment of silence at Notre Dame. Signs reading, “Nous sommes tous Americains!” (We are all Americans) hung in shop windows, and I was reminded that most people are not strangers to war and terrorism. As the bells of Notre Dame pealed, the entire city of Paris became still. People stopped walking, horns stopped honking, and motorists climbed out of their cars to stand silently in the streets. It was a moment that transcended our differences, our nationalities, and cultures. At that moment, we were simply part of the human family and we belonged to each other.

Liza Cristol-Deman

Treasurer

As a kid growing up in Texas, I always dreamed of traveling the world, learning foreign languages, and meeting people from other cultures. In 1988, I began studying Russian and political science at Smith College, intending to spend my junior year in what was then the Soviet Union. The following year, the Berlin Wall came down, and the political landscape in Russia and the Eastern Bloc nations changed dramatically. So I shifted my plans and spent my junior year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It was a life changing experience in countless ways. Not only did I meet Israelis and Palestinians; I also met other students from around the world. 

 

Traveling abroad gave me a wider lens through which to view my world. All students deserve the chance to have the opportunity that I did. And our country and the world will benefit as more young people from different countries learn about one another and their cultures.