Fellow Stories

And. A new life starts like a flash in the sky

Albamarina Nahar

2011-08-22

I am beyond surprised that my mentors and supporters have lead me to Global Citizen Year. I would have never thought that taking a year off was even normal. But reality gave me a slap in the face and college applications were beyond stressful. The application process was not going the way I liked it,...

Alum Post: This New Point of View

Mariela Garcia

2011-08-18

“How was it? How long were you there? Do you still talk to them?”   Among receiving and answering variations of those questions from family, friends, and colleagues, I’ve managed to keep myself very busy this summer! I’ve attained nine college units and registered for sixteen more, successfully learned to cook several dishes, reduced my caffeine...

Intro to Me!

Karina Rodriguez

2011-08-05

Hello! I want to first begin by saying that getting to know a person never begins with “so tell me about yourself.” I think people need to spend time together to get to know each other, rather than just lay it out all black and white. I am also not very good at describing myself...

A Mile Wide, An Inch Deep

Michael Ratliff

2011-07-28

Having only passed the Mason Dixon Line once in the first 17 years of my life, I had – and still have – a strong desire to explore life out of the American Southeast. I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to attend a United World College, a program designed to bring students from...

Organization of thoughts

Holli Sullivan

2011-07-08

I never thought a summer job at a restaurant could teach me so many things. I currently work at Antelope Point Marina on Lake Powell, the world’s largest floating restaurant. A sudden shortage of staff led to having no other choice but to have half of the employees work more or less 14 hour days,...

on wanting to write and next

2011-07-08

I am not a journaler. When I was a little girl I wrote short stories about fictional things because the things that happened to me in real life didn’t seem like they belonged in stories, or at least good ones. But I journal.To be clearer I do not journal recreationally.  I used to try it...

Chimamanda Adichie

Mariah Donnelly

2011-07-06

You might ask what brought me here. What made me decide to take a gap year? To be honest I wasn’t quite sure of the answer when I first applied to become a Global Citizen Year fellow. I wasn’t quite sure this nerdy, debate-loving, music listener, high school graduate could handle a gap year. I...

The Colors of the Rainbow

Henrietta Conrad

2011-07-05

     “Other” was the name of the box I checked off for the ethnic questionnaire on standardize tests but “Other” isn’t my race. “Other”, in fact, is the substitute for a word that doesn’t exist because a blend of sorts is difficult to define. A mouthwatering dish is a blend of subtle flavors in...

Beauty and the Beast

Winson Law

2011-07-05

When I was a child, if I disobeyed my grandparents, they would often threaten to “throw me out” so that I could live with some other, foreign family. With certain panic, I would eat every last grain of rice, obey my grandfather’s wishes, and clean up after myself. At that age, I locked myself into...

Being Different

Holli Sullivan

2011-07-05

I have always been one to take the road less traveled. Ever since I was a little girl picking bikes over Barbies and cameras over clothes, I’ve never quite been able to squeeze into the little space of the ordinary. When I was a small girl I began thinking to myself… “Why be the same...

Entering a Shrinking World

Annie Plotkin

2011-07-05

Before stumbling across Global Citizen Year, my plans for the future were nebulous. After finishing a grueling college experience, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to head straight back to the classroom that had wrung me dry just in time for graduation. However, I wasn’t eager to try my hand at a year abroad without...

Building a Foundation

Sarah Coyne

2011-07-05

I still get random bursts of excitement with adrenaline surging through my body and a smile plastered across my face when I begin to think about this upcoming year. It’s amazing to think that one month ago I was grudgingly getting ready for graduation  — senioritis still in full-gear — pathetically confused about my college...