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
Helping My School Through Art!
Leonie Tollefson
2019-03-16
As part of my Global Citizen Year program, I’m required to complete an end of year project in my community here in India. I chose to do something in my school community, as that’s been the most impactful part of the year for me and I wanted to give back any way I can. Initially...
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Wherever You Go: Judaism in Ecuador
Macy Lipkin
2019-03-16
*This post was originally published on December 9, 2018. * *Wherever you go, there’s always someone Jewish* *You’re never alone when you say you’re a Jew* *So when you’re not home and you’re somewhere kinda newish* *The odds are, don’t look far, ‘cause they’re Jewish too* *The odds are, don’t look far, they’re Jews just...
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Truly Family
Andrew Chen
2019-03-15
Today I’ll share a little about another large part of my experience here: my host family. Over the past few months, I’ve been living with my host dad Dilip, host mom Dipti, host grandfather Prakash, host grandmother Kalyani, and host brother Kabir (who’s 10 years old) in a flat in Bavdhan, a western suburb of...
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Pani Puri
Emiliana Reinoso
2019-03-14
Pani Puri is one of my favorite Indian snacks. Its main components are Pani (water – sweet and salty -) and Puri (a very thin and crispy fried dough). Chickpeas, tomato, onion, parsley and crunchy are added to this. Pani Puri is an ideal snack to share with family and friends, although if you had...
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Thank You, Ecuador
Sarah Montross
2019-03-14
I have sat down on ten different occasions (literally) to write this blog, so hopefully this time sticks. I’ve been really struggling to put my emotions into words, especially given the fact that we only have 21 days left in our communities with our host families. After 193 days living in Ecuador, I’m not really...
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Tips for Future Fellows
Anna Sophie Tinneny
2019-03-13
#1- Get comfortable talking about your bowel movements. Even the shiest Fellows in my cohort broke by week four, discussing their gastrointestinal issues at length. The worst part of all of this isn’t even that you’re hearing about other people’s poop. The worst part is that you’re genuinely interested in hearing about other people’s poop....
Read More"You will leave when you start asking the right questions"
Miriam Abel
2019-03-13
In September, Abby Falik, the CEO and founder of GCY, gave us one important advice: “You will leave when you start asking the right questions.” So, here are my questions I wonder: 1. How can we effectively challenge the single story people have about Africa? 2. How can we start decolonising our vocabulary and behaviour?...
Read MoreThe epitome of my ignorance
Miriam Abel
2019-03-13
I always knew that my thinking and my opinions are shaped by my culture, langauge and history. Isn’t that an obvious fact? Isn’t everyone aware that how they think evolves from factors that we just cannot control? However, is being aware of this enough if we do not actively think outside our own cultural box?...
Read MoreMy Personal Impasse
David Jiang
2019-03-13
MY PERSONAL IMPASSE Since coming to Brazil and working at R3 Animal , I am constantly confronted with the challenging irony that is my relationship to animals and the environment. As much as I am fascinated by wildlife (it was the first “encyclopedic passion” that I had) and fostered a great love for nature and...
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Full Circle: The Journey to Farukahbad
Khalil Laltoo
2019-03-13
It was about 10:30 am, and we had just wrapped up our visit to the Taj Mahal. We exited from the south gate onto a street of noisy vendors who beckoned us into their shops, waving magnets and snow globes and other Taj paraphernalia. We wandered the streets looking for a quiet and moderately priced...
Read MoreJudaism
Natalie Glick
2019-03-12
Everyday I take the bus to and from the school I work at. I have a bus I take in the mornings which is suppose to come at 8:55, and going back home in the afternoon I take the 4:55 bus home. Over the past six months of riding the bus I have become friendly...
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I Am Connected
Jaime Givens
2019-03-12
[image: image.png] *Courtesy of Tisch College* One of the biggest worries that I had coming into this year abroad in Hyderabad, India was not making connections to the people around me. For one, I couldn’t speak Hindi or Telugu (the state language of Telangana). I stuck out like a sore-thumb due to my big, curly...
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