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
Moths and Other Frustrations
Madison Lommen
2016-06-01
Written December 30, 2015 It's 11:55 PM. We have just finished sitting down to a family meal of undercooked tilapia. I had no interest in eating so late, but it seems as if my host family follows the same meal routine regardless of what time we arrive home. Tomorrow we're bound for our New Year's...
Read MoreThe Right Choice
ericagonzales08
2016-06-01
This is my capstone video about my life in Brazil. Although it does no justice to my experience, I hope it provides a small glimpse into the past year for my supporters.
Read MoreReadjustment, Perseverance, & Gratefulness
ericagonzales08
2016-06-01
Before I officially started my year in Brazil, I was confident that the year wouldn’t be that difficult. Yes, there would be challenges, but I wouldn’t cry wanting to go home. In March, I cried every morning, FaceTiming my mom when it’s 4 AM in Las Vegas telling her I wanted to go home. During...
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This is Just the Beginning
Abigail Foy
2016-06-01
Alumni often say, “It doesn’t even feel like it happened. It feels like a dream.” Now, as an alumni of Global Citizen Year, I can tell you, wholeheartedly, that that’s true. So, I’m home now and I’m trying to adjust. I’m trying to get back into some sort of routine. I’m trying to feel productive...
Read MoreStories to Tell
Elizabeth Schubert
2016-06-01
On the third day in my host family, I woke with a pit in my stomach and tears in my eyes. I tried to suppress it for a while, but then ran to my host mom. I was barely able to get out “Can I call my mom?” before bursting into tears. Later that night...
Read MoreComing home
Trina Olsen
2016-05-30
I’ve been home from Ecuador for about a month and a half now. Being home, I’ve realized how much it’s changed my life. Before living in Ecuador, I had lived in the same place all my life. Now, I have this experience living in another world. I find myself constantly thinking about the differences between...
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This is to the people we meet.
Josue Morales Vivas
2016-05-29
Life is a mystery. It’s full of hellos and goodbyes. People come and go as I write, but there’s some who never go; they take a spot right beside you and stay to enjoy the jazz of life. These people might or might not be physically with you, but it doesn’t matter because there’s bonds...
Read MoreSaturday, April 16
Katherine Brooke-Davidson
2016-05-27
Saturday, April 16 I’m about 30 minutes away from Austin and I’m nervous. I haven’t been in Austin-Bergstrom for a while. It even had begun to feel like another airport, Mariscal Sucre in Quito, had become “my airport” – when I went to pick up Emma there with my friends, or saying goodbye to my...
Read More13 May 2016
Bennett Donine
2016-05-25
Tucked between the towering Andes, Quito, Ecuador is what many call a world-class metropolis. From my experience of my first month living there and my last three days preparing to say “hello again” to the U.S., I must agree. Upon my initial arrival to Quito alongside my final arrival to the U.S. where my inaccurate...
Read MorePrivilege
Bennett Donine
2016-05-25
Paula S. Rothenberg begins her judiciously organized collection of essays found in her book “Beyond Borders” with her own words regarding the purpose of her work: to dismantle the American privilege and its costs Michael Shwalbe addresses in the Afterword. She returns to his thoughts at the close of her collection, which reinforces her...
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