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
A Little on the Why
Hannah Bouline
2012-08-26
Global Citizen Year. Why am I doing it? I’ve been posed the question a hundred and one times and each answer seems to come out a bit differently. Buzz phrases such as “a great experience” and “gaining perspective” and “reenergizing myself” pop in frequently. Each time I jumble the words around and spit them back...
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Adventure Is Out There
Sam Reeve
2012-08-21
My name is Sam Reeve, and I am ready. I’m ready to embark on the journey of a lifetime; ready to live in and explore the culture of a completely different community; ready to leave my small Southern community with memories, friends, and supporters behind me; ready to see the Amazon; ready to try some...
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My Trip to Brazil
Jordan Lee
2012-08-08
Hello everyone, As the date of my departure gets closer, I continue working through the seemingly never-ending to-do list that accompanies a year-long trip to Ecuador. But about 2 weeks ago, my preparation was interrupted by a visit to another South American country: Brazil. Almost every year, my church sends a group of about 20...
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What To Expect?
Aidan Holloway-Bidwell
2012-08-03
I keep imagining that my upcoming trip to Ecuador will resemble my only other experience in a developing country, my time in Nepal, 2010. I know full well it won’t. Yeah, Ecuadorian and Nepali cuisine share certain staples, like rice and potatoes, and I’ll probably be a couple conspicuous heads taller than my hosts in...
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“The Factory”
Mai Lee
2012-08-02
Fresh, raw, and unknowing of the surrounding world, we are placed at the start of the conveyor belt at birth. Yet to hold an identity or purpose, all we possess is boundless potential and curiosity. And so the process begins; each step shapes us to fit a pre-made mold, designed under society’s standards for “the...
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A New Adventure
Kalea Moore
2012-07-31
Hello my name is Kalea Moore. I am often thought of as the one who dares to be different. In school, I was never the one to follow the rest of the crowd. So, when the opportunity to take a Global Citizen Year presented itself, I jumped at the chance! I love to help people...
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Conviction, Dreams, and Adulthood
Emily Soule
2012-07-23
Someone commented yesterday about how hard my decision must have been, “giving up a year to go abroad…not seeing your family. You must have had to think on that one a long time.” I smiled and nodded; yet did not bother to contradict her statement. The truth is choosing to participate in Global Citizen Year [...]
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Nature
Galen Tsongas
2012-07-20
I am human. My nature is peace, chillness, and love. Why does no one help each other in this city of mine? Why are people more content with material objects, and less with living? I’m from San Francisco, California, where I’ve lived for 18 years. I’ve been surrounded by ignorance and hate all my life...
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How I Got Here
Jordan Lee
2012-07-19
Hello everyone! My name is Jordan Lee. I didn’t seriously consider an international Gap Year until the start of my senior year. By that time, I had travelled a fair amount internationally and studied in various academic environments, but when I started thinking about college and what I wanted to get out of the experience,...
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I Wanted More
Ina Shkurti
2012-07-17
My journey with Global Citizen Year started with a neon green sticky note. I was leaving the Summer Search office one fall afternoon, and a mentor stopped me. He asked about my experiences in Nicaragua the previous summer and how I felt since coming back. I told him about the amazing things that I had...
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Introducing Nate
Nathan Edwards
2012-07-17
Hello everyone, I am Nate Edwards and I have grown up in the beautiful state of Colorado. I am very excited to be a part of Global Citizen Year, and look forward to the upcoming challenges and adventures that the next year will have to offer. I have had a strong desire to learn Spanish...
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Time
Chloe Bash
2012-07-17
Sweat dripped down my back as I reached the windy peak. Turning slightly I could see a panorama of the valley, buff stone punctuated by spindling church spires and red flags. Just as in every city and village I had visited, the call of “Allah Akbar,” or “God is great” rang out in the evening...
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