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
Curiosity, Opportunities, and a Decision
Lauren Holt
2012-07-11
The world is a big place. I think just about anyone could come to this conclusion on their own. The world is fascinatingly large; we are surrounded by people and places we have never seen or encountered even though we’ve learned about them in school. Some say that we’re beyond our carrying capacity and that...
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A Little Bit About Me
Ella Wegman-Lawless
2012-07-10
My name is Ella Wegman-Lawless. I have been raised to be who I want to be. I try to live in the moment and seize any opportunity put in front of me and make the most of it. I love to swim, bike and hike. I am social but I also love to find the...
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Unbreakable Ties
Gabe Jackman
2012-07-10
My parents always raised me to be independent and be able to handle myself. It’s also possible that I was born naturally independent, but my mom and dad definitely instilled great values in me. They raised me in a small town by San Francisco, and I have been living in the same house for almost...
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Adventuring
Delia Ross
2012-07-10
I come from a family of adventurers, and I have always been one myself. New things thrill me. Taking the path less traveled is the story of my life. I went to a tiny Montessori school through middle school, lived in London during 3rd grade, lived in Panama in 11th grade, and decided to choose...
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The Right Choice
Peyton Foley
2012-07-10
When I first saw Global Citizen Year’s advertisement publicizing the opportunity to take a gap year between high school and college I had two options: click the ad and discover that it was just another scam, or ignore it and save myself from certain disappointment. Although it wasn’t obvious to me at the time, I’m...
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Labeling Myself
Emily Hwang
2012-07-10
I do this thing where I label myself- Extrovert, ENFP, Sagittarius, Advocate, Actress, Girl. Every trait or behavior that I have ever manifested, every emotion that I have ever experienced has been thoroughly analyzed and neatly placed into one of the myriad categories that I use to define myself. And if it doesn’t fit, it isn’t...
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Expanding Into the Unknown
Brian Riefler
2012-07-10
If you told me last year I would wind up volunteering in Ecuador for 8 months, I would have said that you were crazy. I think things happen in life for a reason, and I believe Global Citizen Year is my higher calling to grow further as a “man for others.” I first heard my...
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I Belong
Tsion Horra
2012-07-10
Do you know the feeling? I mean the feeling of belonging somewhere, within something, or with someone? I do. Getting to this point or feeling, however, was by no means effortless. Unlike most of my classmates in high school, I was always indecisive and uncertain of my future; it scared me. I would always think...
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Eighteen Year Olds
Meg Crenshaw
2012-07-10
Eighteen is a funny age. In the summer, eighteen year olds fill the spectrum. There are eighteen year olds completely dependent on their parents, and there are eighteen year olds paying rent independently. There are eighteen year olds who have a three-month interlude during the summer, and there are eighteen year olds whose summers are...
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Let’s Go!
Carly Sitrin
2012-07-10
Would you do me a favor? Imagine I have crafted here an entrancing tale of adventure and romance. Pretend, just for a moment, that I have traversed mountain ranges, crossed miles of unforgiving desert sand, and have gained spiritual insight from the wisest humans in the most remote locations. Paint yourself a picture of an...
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Slowing The Pace
Graham Collins
2012-07-10
My parents gave me the name Graham Collins. My first 18 years have been spent in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have grown up in the suburbs. Based on my position in the world, I am expected to behave and be respectful; work hard and make good grades; get into college and find a lucrative job;...
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The Beginning of a New Me
Meliza Windmoeller
2012-07-10
Hi everyone, I’m Liza Windmoeller and like almost everyone else I’m 18 and a recent graduate. I am from northern Wisconsin, a very small town called Phillips. Our population is barely 2,000 and our ethnic diversity is sorely lacking. But needless to say it is the place I call home. I sat here for a...
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