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
The Importance of Language Learning
Wyatt Foster
2018-01-09
Nelson Mandela is famous for the quote "If you talk to man in a language he understands it goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language it goes to his heart" for a good reason. Since being in Senegal I have developed a new understanding and passion for language learning. Not...
Read More2018 10 things I need you to know!
Allison Vaught
2018-01-09
I will keep pushing myself. Being okay with failures. I’m not a perfect, I’m human. I will continue to love my body. Smile and Laughter are most important. I have flaunts but that’s okay. Tomorrow will be a better day. Take a moment to breathe go with the flow. These children have impacted me the...
Read MoreMy Family
Hamid Ahmed Abulrhman
2018-01-09
My host family is big and diverse. I have two host brothers, Carlos who is 21 and a fresh uni graduate. And Adrian who is 16 and in high school I also have an older host sister Valeria. She is already married and has a son named Pedro, or as everyone calls him, Pedrito. ...
Read MoreNo Fear Gap Year
Alexandra Moreno
2018-01-07
December 28th was my nineteenth birthday. I didn’t exactly know how to feel about my birthday because it was three days after my first Christmas away from home and a really bad wave of homesickness. But if there was one thing I have learned from this year, fellow fellows will always surprise you in the...
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When my parents came
Sophie Winter
2018-01-07
I was fortunate to have my parents (de Estados Unidos) come and visit me during December. I may have cried a bit when they arrived in the airport, but I think that was also because of the “amendoim doce ” or, “sweet peanuts” we bought afterwards. They were delicious. We toured through the neighboring...
Read MoreHave I Changed?
Elizabeth Ollila
2018-01-07
A quick snapshot of me right now: I am sitting in a crowded bus next to an old Ecuadorian man who sells fruit by hopping from one bus to the next hoping its riders are hungry. I'm on my way home from the city two hours from my town. It has been 3 days since...
Read More“Finding Myself”
Isabelle Johnson
2018-01-06
My first few weeks in this country acted like a giant wrecking ball came down on me without mercy. It squashed me into nothing & showed me how massive and diverse the world can be. These last 4 months have slowly built me back up into a different version of my old self. Not one...
Read MoreMy 5 Lessons
Sophia Comer
2018-01-04
Just recently I’ve felt like I’ve moved out of survival and learning mode, and into a mentality where I feel like I can create. So here l am, 4 months into my Global Citizen Year experience, I’ve been thinking about what I might write about for quite a while. What is worth the, what I...
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At Last, a Full Circle
Gemma Kelton
2018-01-03
The best gift one can receive is having their mom visit them after living away from home for 4 months, especially as far away as India. I know this sounds cheezy and corny, but I truly couldn’t have been happier to see my mom. And it’s not for the reasons you think you know....
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Kwanzaa in Senegal
Miniya Ali
2018-01-03
Unfortunately no, there were no Kwanzaa celebrations going on in the Theis or Touba Toul areas that I knew of. This is the first year in my life that I’ve ever missed a Kwanzaa celebration, but Senegal isn't a bad place to be missing it. Many people incorrectly believe that Kwanzaa is a traditional “African”...
Read Moreblog post
Oumaima Rhalem
2018-01-03
(very) rough draft of my reflections so far Who are not, but could be. Who don’t speak languages, but dialects. Who don’t have religions, but superstitions. Who don’t create art, but handicrafts. Who don’t have culture, but folklore. Who are not human beings, but human resources. Who do not have faces, but arms. Who do...
Read MoreMadre. Nanay. Mother.
Layla Solatan
2018-01-02
My seven-year-old, meatless arms surge a fifteen-inch wooden spoon through a sea of nut and milk as it slowly transforms into a stubborn pillow of sucrose. I’ve thrown crumbs of pili nut along with three cans of condensed milk and sugar into an unforgiving wok. In just a few hours, these simple elements will all...
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