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
Hold On, We’re (Going) Home
Caroline Smith
2018-05-01
My definition of home has expanded more than I could have imagined in the past two years. 24 months ago, home meant living in a house with the number 102 and a best friend living in house 103 on that same street. It meant a hammock hung between two dogwood trees, and a treehouse I...
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WHY I QUIT SOCIAL MEDIA?
Rujen Amatya
2018-04-30
;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial”> A year ago, I was a social media addict. I loved using Facebook, Instagram and, Snapchat. I enjoyed sharing updates through my photo and video posts. I was often busy with my cell phone messaging friends and being updated about the lives of hundreds of followers. However, as I took a bridge year after...
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BY THE BEACH, IN THE SEA
Rujen Amatya
2018-04-30
During my bridge year in Florianopolis, Brazil, I had one objective: to visit all the beaches on the island. This proved to be an extreme challenge because the island of magic has more than 40 beaches. I could not visit all the beaches. Thus, I decided to go for the most beautiful beaches which are on the east...
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Annoyed Strangers, Giant Mickey Mouses, and Carving Out My Life in The U.S.
Christopher Maloney
2018-04-30
After a sleepless night filled with countless goodbyes, I left the redwoods to board a plane for Florida. “Wait!” you say, “don’t you live in Maine?” Indeed I do. However I had thought the easiest transition from Ecuador would be to put myself in the extremely American, money grubbing, plutocratic nation of Walt Disney World...
Read MoreThe End — Even Though it Never Really Ends
Elizabeth Ollila
2018-04-29
I’m home—kinda. I am back to the place that I missed so much, but somehow it is not the same when part of my heart is in Ecuador and Sweden and Chicago and California, etc (the homes of all my friends). I am so happy to be back, but so sad to be gone....
Read More1 Second Everyday
Alexi Strike
2018-04-25
A quick, yet nostalgic video showcasing one second from (almost) everyday of my journey in Brazil. [vc_video link=’https://youtu.be/KXFJXhBmZjo’]
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Writing while experiencing mixed emotions, I want to feel at home
Juliana Trujillo Mesa
2018-04-25
So here I am, back to Colombia, trying to put into blogs the last eight months of my life. This has proven to be an extremely hard task as while I try to adapt to my new life in a country that doesn’t quite feel like my own anymore every time I think of Brazil...
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Coming Home
Dominique Landinez
2018-04-23
The reverse culture shock is a very strange and very real thing. I am on a bus, looking through my window, and taking in the vast redwood forests in California. My mind is still in Brazil. My hand is fidgeting with the cap of my water bottle. I am thinking about taking a shower, rinsing...
Read MoreLittle Did You Know
Ayla Blair-Smith
2018-04-18
I realised that despite my "profound observations" during my stay in India, I never got around to explaining the simple things; my daily routine. I never once explained this to parents, nor close friends mainly because I was constantly overwhelmed by new things and the obscurity of those things until eventually they became normal to...
Read MoreUma Carta
Sophie Winter
2018-04-17
Dear Mum and Dad, My hair is longer and my skin darker. My family has expanded, stretching from America, England, Australia and Brazil. I have friends who speak several languages, who have grown up in the Middle East, South America, and Europe. I have argued, agreed and changed. I learned how to cook rice...
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A few things I miss about my experience in Senegal
Tiffany Hurtado
2018-04-17
So 8 months have passed, and I’m currently writing this blog out of Curaçao and not Senegal anymore. It’s been around 2 weeks since we left and it still doesn’t feel real. Because of this I made a short list with things I miss about Senegal (In no way is it in order of what...
Read MoreCame home family already arguing. Bringing my stuff away all I here…
Ezekiel Alford
2018-04-15
Came home family already arguing. Bringing my stuff away all I here is shouts. I just wanna be alone, but I can’t the noise is to much but I’m not giving up. I have to relive stress but I have to hold mine in. Looks like I might get kicked out it’s not even there...
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