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
Ready As I’ll Ever Be
Cassidy Nelson
2014-08-01
“Are you ready?” seems to be the unavoidable question these days. Implying of course, am I ready to: move to a completely foreign developing country, join a new family, leave behind everything I’ve ever known, and acquire a new language from scratch. So the simple answer is, “absolutely not.” As of now, I have never...
Read More Distances and Connections
Irie Ewers
2014-07-31
“I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life –and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” –Georgia O’Keeffe The funny thing about physical distances is that you would assume they make emotional distances greater. Now that summer is winding down, most solitary moments really have...
Read More Rivers and Roads
Briana Merrigan
2014-07-31
“A year from now, we’ll all be gone, all our friends will move away,” As I sang these words at my graduation party surrounded by lifelong friends, I felt something coming to an end. Not the end of friendships, but the end of this stage in life. We are all inevitably pushed and pulled in...
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Changing The World
Bennett Quintard
2014-07-31
Over the next eight months I will do many things. I will eat new foods, create new relationships, become more self sufficient, see amazing sights, laugh, cry, and grow. But there is one thing that I most definitely will not do. I will not change the world. I know this is more then a little confusing for...
Read More Living My Dream
Hannah Phalen
2014-07-30
“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey It has always been a top priority of mine to see the world. I grew up being taught that you need to make sacrifices, but anything you want to do is somehow possible. I didn’t grow up...
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Planet Waves
Kamilah Udomsap
2014-07-30
While the looming shadow of an empty piggy bank haunts my dreams, it is accompanied by thoughts of a new world, a divergent culture, and a breath of air that I’m unaccustomed to. Upon being accepted into the blessing that is Global Citizen Year, I’ve already gotten a new lease on life, but it’s come...
Read More Leaving my Reverie
Samantha Srok
2014-07-30
For the past 26 days that I have been out of school, 21 have been spent working at Camp Alice Chester as K/PA (Kitchen/Program Assistant). I’ve been going to camp since I was seven and especially since I started my volunteer year there, 2 years ago, it’s been a key part of my life. It’s...
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Life as we know it
Lindsay Saligman
2014-07-30
A few weeks ago, as we walked across our high school’s parking lot, a friend of mine turned to me and said soberly “this is the end of life as we know it.” The first thing that came to my mind upon hearing this was the first thing that always comes to my mind upon...
Read More The Beginning
Eustacia Meyer
2014-07-30
Hello, my name is Eustacia Meyer, but most people call me Staci. I was born in Iowa and have lived in Ohio for most of my life. I have never really had the chance to leave the Midwest, so taking a bridge year in a foreign country was a shock to most of my family....
Read More A Whole New World
Hadiyah Grubish
2014-07-30
Hey y’all! First off, I cannot believe that this bridge year is actually happening for me. As my departure date grows nearer, I can’t help but to feel scared, excited, and nervous all at the same time. This is something completely new and different. I’m not sure how to prepare myself for exactly how big...
Read More Starting the Journey
Kali Nelson
2014-07-30
I have always known adventure, and have always gone out looking for it. The need to explore and see things for myself is one of the strongest forces guiding my way. I always loved getting outside and climbing a tree just to see the rest of the world around me. My junior year of high...
Read More Oh how the time flies by…
Lucas Weber
2014-07-29
It seems like everything is happening at once. From trying to figure out how to navigate through my High School freshman year, to figuring out the layout Hunter College in senior year, where I took college classes, to grabbing my diploma in front of family and friends. Looking back, everything seems like a blur, but...
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