Fellow Stories

True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!

Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!

Category
Class Year
Country

Page 40 of 48

1 … 38 39 40 41 42 … 48

The Virtue of Sharing

2012-09-13

I was taught from a young age, as most children are, about the virtue of sharing. I learned that sharing is caring, that greed was an ugly trait, and that yes, I really did have to give some of my chocolate to my sister. Of course I’ve had my fair share of avaricious moments, but...

Read More

Bienvenidos

2012-09-13

Hola mi amigos, Ecuador!!! I posted some pictures of the soccer game that we attended against Bolivia (Ecuador won 1-0!!!!). What a great experience to go to the game. The atmosphere in the city and stadium was electric before, during, and after the game. Que cheverre! My host family is a great group of people....

Read More

Having finally left the US of A

2012-09-13

We just flew over Panama on our way to Quito from San Francisco (via Miami). Many of the talks and discussions that occurred during fall training involved meditation, self-reflection, and mindfulness. I suppose I should write some reflective words down. I consider myself to be a very thoughtful person, normally overthinking even the most basic...

Read More

“One more week” on repeat

2012-09-13

As I am typing this, I am laying on a couch-bed hybrid in a hostel in the heart of the University of California, Berkeley. Indeed, I am in Berkeley, California right now – not Salvador, Brazil. I am finding it very difficult to distinguish a starting point on how I could possibly begin to explain...

Read More

Stream of Experiences

2012-09-12

The first moment I left the plane and felt the damp humid air that made my face shiny and clothes stick uncomfortably, the men who spoke in rapid inaudible French grabbing at my suitcase demandingly, the stares and disapproving eyes that practically bored into us as we walked saying “foreigner”, “unwelcome”, and “different,” the thick,...

Read More

Unicycling 101

2012-09-12

I rode a unicycle today. But let me get back to that in a moment… First, a bit of background: Fall Training–a ten-day period of exhausting yet exhilarating seminars, field trips, workshops, and training sessions–serves as the start to every fellow’s Global Citizen Year. The aim of Fall Training is to prepare us for our...

Read More

A New Country – A New Home

2012-09-10

I left my heart in San Francisco…as the saying goes.Who knew that spending 10 days in the city by the bay could permanently change me? Not me that’s for sure. When I first arrived at the beautiful campus of Stanford college my mind was cluttered with the unimportant clatter of usual teenage din and the...

Read More

Here I am

2012-09-10

Here I am a baby. I do not yet know how to live in this place. I am guided and my hand is held. I see all, but understand much less. I soak up all I can each day hoping to retain something for tomorrow. I am ready to grow.  Here I am a child....

Read More

Training at Stanford

2012-09-07

Let’s say the world is a village of 100. What do we see? There are differences in ethnicity—57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 Americans (North and South), 8 Africans—gender—52 females, 48 males—religion—30 Christians, 70 non-Christians—language—66 multilingual speakers (not one of whom is American)—sexuality—89 heterosexuals, 11 homosexuals—income—6 have 59% of the world’s wealth (all from the U.S.), 80 live in substandard housing, 50 are malnourished—and...

Read More

You. Be. Careful.

2012-09-07

The Ecuador Fellows might have boarded a plane by now, and Brazil Fellows are soon to follow. This evening, only 30 Fellows remain. The Senegal Fellows. Together, we overwhelmed Gate 43, San Francisco International Airport, armed with One World Futbols, green Global Cltizen Year T-shirts, and red, yellow and green bordered visas marked ‘Republique du...

Read More

Faith even before Training

2012-09-07

 Its been a true experience, starting from being locked out of the house hours before my flight leaving Atlanta for San Francisco. Then, missing my first flight, and now flying standby. As I approached security I tried to keep together at least until I was out of the sight of my mother and little sister who were now completely in...

Read More

Symbols and Perception

2012-09-07

Symbols are good at filling the mind and preventing an open flow of perception. The most powerful ones nestle deep in my head and distort the way I experience the world. Home is a very powerful symbol. It is subjective but I feel forced to adapt or to struggle with the concept and how it makes me feel.  I...

Read More