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
Dancing In The Rain-A Thank You to Summer Camp
Talia Bailes
2016-02-28
I am always “glowing” here in Ecuador, be it the rain or the Amazon heat. But I love it, thanks to what I learned from Jewish summer camp. Listen below
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If We’re Being Honest
Jackson Harris
2016-02-27
The thing about Pulaar culture, is that it tends to be honest. Often brutally honest. This honesty reveals itself when you least expect it. For instance: you’re midway through a peaceful morning. You’re in the garden minding your own business, tending to the compost pile, when suddenly, honesty strikes the women gathering around the well...
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Secret Identities
Hugo Santiago
2016-02-25
Peter Parker is the Amazing Spider-Man! This guy has always been one of my favorite comic book characters. I think it’s been because I could relate to him in some form or another. When we weren’t short on cash or bullied, we were out trying to help others and no matter how hard we tried...
Read MoreViva Carnaval
Trina Olsen
2016-02-24
Two Saturdays ago, I took the bus up to the town of El Valle, about 10 minutes away from my house. Deema, a friend and fellow in Global Citizen Year, lives there with her host family. We met up in El Valle to go watch what we thought would be a fun, but more or...
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Waves
Steven Schwab
2016-02-22
A couple months ago I found the following article. I never thought that I would actually need it or rather I never thought that I would need it as soon as I found myself needing it. I saved it to my Google Drive and marked it as “If and When You’re Feeling Down.” It reads,...
Read More‘The Conscious Contortion of Writers’ Application
Momo Manalang R.
2016-02-22
“And the day came when the risk to remain in a tight bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin January 14, 2016 Dear Ms. Writer’s Block: Thank you for your application to be a Poet-in-Residence at The Conscious Consortium of Writers. While we appreciate the efforts placed forth...
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Better Now
Maria Morava
2016-02-20
Abdou Ghey’s big voice called out to me, almost home from a too-long vacation, tired and aching. “You’re Senegalese now!” He shouted, as I settled from the initial boom of his voice. “Your hips are -” and he gestured with his hands widely from the sides of his body. The crowd of people outside the...
Read MoreBrand New Day
Brianna Gilmore
2016-02-16
*This is a speech that I gave to my Amazon cohort on January 9th, 2016* New Year’s Eve is my favorite holiday. Most years, a friend and I spend all night together until the countdown for the New Year. On December 31st, 2014, I went to downtown Raleigh with my friend, Nathan. We watched the...
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This is what comfort feels like
Armi Katariina Kauppila
2016-02-14
I lean on my finger placed at the bottom corner of the front seat window. So I stand, looking around myself at the busy car station in MBour. Looking around, but not with surprise. With affection mixed with a little bit of boredom. I have gotten used to this. I see all the vendors, but...
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Now Forgive Me
Tatiana Calonje
2016-02-13
The curse of normalcy. I take a rickshaw to the same school, the same classroom every week. The bell rings at the same time. I walk out the gates by 2pm and I fall asleep in the same bed, to the same distant sound of trains passing. My phone has an address book filled of...
Read MoreMis Amigos (a poem)
Noah Hapke
2016-02-12
Back in Training Seminar 2 (TS2), in one of our many sessions, we focused on Storytelling but through a lense that we are not necessarily comfortable with. I spent an hour looking through old Renaissance paintings, observing specific color schemes and author's intentions, and recognizing patterns in size and theme. From there, we were given...
Read MoreCapoeria Através dos Olohs de uma Gringa.
Sarah Murray
2016-02-12
'Através doa Olohs de uma Gringa' or 'Through the Eyes of a Gringa' is a good representation of how I view my time here. Even more so in Capoeira, because as a tradition each person is given a nickname that describes a trait of theirs. We do not use actual names because in the past...
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