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
Why I chose Ecuador
Aniska Bitomsky
2019-08-19
From: Aniska Bitomsky Sent: Monday, 19 August, 10:49 Subject: Why I chose Ecuador To: updates@globalcitizenyear.com Hey folks, Writing my first blog post is kind of exciting and scary, but here we go. I came back from the Ecuadorian consulate in London yesterday and finally received my visa, wuhu. Getting that visa was such a struggle...
Read MoreThe Difference of a Week
Maya Holcomb
2019-08-17
Last week at this time tears rolled down my smiling face as the chaotic sound of 200 people dancing and singing rung throughout the dining hall of a summer camp. It isn’t just a summer camp. It’s home. During the summer as a camp counselor I met countless mentors and peers who I can now...
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Soon be Third Home
Lana Hadziosmanovic
2019-08-13
Despite preparing for my journey to Ecuador all summer, the moment I truly felt the weight of my departure was when I finally received my visa. I entered the Viennese Ecuadorian Embassy with all the required documents in a bright yellow folder with an obnoxiously large name tag on which my name had...
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The places you’ll go…when preparing for Ecuador
Annika Kapp
2019-08-13
Disclaimer: This post describes the preparations and visa process of a fellow living in Germany. This process will differ depending on your location! I thought that after two years of living abroad in Norway, I would be an expert in preparing for long-term travel, and nothing could stress me anymore. Little did I know...
Read MoreEmily Marin blog 1
Emily Marin
2019-08-13
Its a Friday afternoon and I have just come back from a long and tiring day of school. I am drained, I get off the car and the smell of carne asada draws me to the backyard like a moth to light. I see my grandpa and uncle drinking. My grandpa sneakily gives me a...
Read MoreLast Blog: Gratitude
Surabhee Arjunwadkar
2019-06-02
Being home has given me time to reflect. I do not know yet what I have experienced, nor do I know how to make sense of it. I know, however, that I have grown a lot, grown into someone I am proud of. And I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity I was given...
Read MoreI Remember
Anna Denniston
2019-05-30
I remember sugar cane. I remember the black bowler hat my great-grandpa always wore, even under the shade of the Guava tree in our backyard. I remember the wasp in my room one Saturday morning. I went and got Danny, and he helped me get it out. I remember playing hangman with Danny on the...
Read MoreSilhouettes of Palm
Anna Denniston
2019-05-30
I love my bed in Iowa City. It’s small, but that’s okay, because it only needs to fit me, which it does perfectly. I’ve got it positioned so I can pull my curtains back and look out through the screen into my backyard, and the outline of the pine tree branches in the back. In...
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Why Should You Take A Gap Year?
Brian Hill
2019-05-26
There are endless reasons that you should take a gap year abroad instead of going directly to college. When you participate in a program like Global Citizen Year, you gain an indescribable amount of experience, perspective, and connection that you just wouldn’t get in almost any other environment. Over this past year, I’ve...
Read MoreMango
Anna Denniston
2019-05-25
Banana, pineapple, mango for breakfast before school. On days we’re running late, just the mango, cecause mamá knows it’s my favorite. Afternoon naps next to Danny; Lulled to sleep by his game’s sounds off gunshots and bombs and footprints on gravel that I can hear even now. And then a soft nudge to show me...
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My Capstone (Where I’m at Post-Ecuador)
Jeffrey Fishman
2019-05-24
It’s hard for me to believe that I left Ecuador almost two months ago. As I sit in my house in the United States writing this blog post, everything still feels a little weird. I spent the last seven months creating this second life for myself halfway across the globe. Then, on April 3rd, I...
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