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
Future?
Deonte' Lee
2015-09-15
If I told you my only ambition is to be happy, would that be enough? Now in Curitiba, I am sitting in my family’s backyard listening to Jack Johnson play in the background, hearing the chirps of the birds resting in the trees, and my mother’s conversation in Portuguese with her sister in law....
Read MoreThe Modern Tribes of Brazil
Daniel Lewis
2015-09-13
The participants in the ritual stand around a huge grassy field with nets on opposite ends. Some of them have drums, setting a fast beat for the others to chant to, others are shirtless, their banners painted across their chests. The singers cry their tunes preparing the audience for the biweekly ritual. Their voices are...
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Great Expectations
Gabriel Lucas Yerdon
2015-09-10
My departure from the United States quickly approaches and I invite you all to follow me on my journey to Santa Catarina, Brazil. I have chosen to postpone the traditional college experience and embark on a bridge year abroad. This adventure consists of eight months in a strange and new place. During...
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I can swim.
Zoe Barnes
2015-09-09
I’m scared. I feel like I’ve been thrown into the middle of the ocean with a crappy live jacket and leaky goggles. I thought I was prepared, but it doesn’t seem like anything could’ve prepared me for the situation I’ve been placed in. No one could have prepared me for the feeling of literally not...
Read MoreI’m Here With Intent
Indira Patel
2015-09-09
Our nights would be, mostly, the same. Apart from one night. That night I was half awake, in my boarding school bed, with fairy lights painting orange swirls under my eyelids, I could hear fingers tapping away at keyboards and friends chatting in the background. What was different about that particular night was the conversation; and how her voice rose...
Read MoreHow To Survive In Brazil Without Knowing Any Portuguese
Daniel Lewis
2015-09-09
I have only had one Portuguese class. For the past four days I have been living with a family that only speaks Portuguese. —————————— Rule #1: Verbal Charades The past few days have been a big game of verbal charades. I have my list of words I’m not allowed to say, anything in English, but...
Read MoreAnd We´re Off (A Litle Bit Late, I Know)
Daniel Lewis
2015-09-08
There are times in your life when hours feel like days, days like weeks, weeks like years, and years, decades. Where time seems to stretch in a way it never could before, making what was in another setting trivial, irreplaceable. This was one of those times. There are times where what you expect to be...
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Minhas Primeiras Dias
Steven Schwab
2015-09-06
09/06/2015 Wow, I’m finally here! I made it here safely (although the eight hour flight was brutal). It’s hard to believe that after months of anticipation and “preparation,” I’m finally here in Curitiba, PR, Brazil! Now, I’m lounging on my bed, listening to music, and momentarily escaping reality so that I can write...
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Distracted Thoughts
Steven Schwab
2015-09-06
8/17/2015 As the days of my summer dwindle and my suitcase sits agape in my basement, longing to be filled with the clothes strewn about my bedroom, I can’t help but lounge in my living room not quite believing that I’m going to Brazil in a little over two weeks. I know the facts: I’ll...
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Hike Here
Eve Harris
2015-09-05
As I watch my friends go off to college, I find myself heading into new territory. Yes, I do live in a freshman dorm right now. Yes, I do have a roommate. But my roommate is about to spend the next year working with little girls in a foster home in Madrid, Spain; my dorm life is temporary. In...
Read MoreA Different Perspective
Zoe Barnes
2015-09-05
I was in that weird mindset between subconsciousness and reality, where dreams are slipping farther and farther away despite desperate efforts to hold on. I presume I would’ve succeeded if it hadn’t been for the rough patch of turbulence to jolt me into full consciousness. The cabin was dark, and it seemed that most passengers...
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“Home is behind, the world ahead”
Sarah Murray
2015-09-02
18.08.2015 “Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are all alight.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring On my last night at home, my family and I sat down to watch a movie together: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Near...
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