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
Branching Out of the Books
Sarah McMillan
2012-07-10
In my experience, branching out of the books helps me understand academics more. My freshman year in high school, my grades were atrocious. We’re talking failing math and German—atrocious. If you’d asked me then, I would’ve said it was because the teacher was too tough or I wasn’t smart enough but the truth is, my...
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A Fortuitous Accident
Emily Power
2012-07-10
It was a fortuitous accident that I ever heard of Global Citizen Year. On Facebook, someone was telling my friend about the program and how she should apply. I already knew that I wanted to take a gap year, and all I needed was the perfect program to do so. I clicked the link and...
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A Whole New Style
Jackie Brown
2012-07-10
I just received my packing list for next year: no sleeveless shirts, no shorts, one towel. If the people in Ecuador saw how I am dressed today they would consider me rude and disrespectful. I am in my usual attire of a pair of athletic shorts and a t-shirt but soon I will be saying...
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Why? Why Not!
Betty Gebre
2012-07-10
“Why would you want to waste a year of your life?” is a response I often get when I present the fact that I will be taking a gap year. For a while I did not understand why people were not open to the idea that a teenager would actually be eager to take a...
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Passion
Ely Kadish
2012-07-10
Life places many questions before us, shaping and molding our way of thinking and acting. Some question the “why” and others question the “how” but in the end the “so what!” is all that really matters. In the end, a life is not measured by the atoms or the bonds but by the path and...
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Decisions
Mackenzie McMillen
2012-07-10
I recently opened my very first debit card. As you would expect, my parents cautioned me against using it frivolously and reminded me that it’s easy to loose track of how much one spends when the money isn’t tangible. I took heed and promised myself I wouldn’t get carried away. Still, I was eager to...
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The Call of Adventure
Kimberly Reed-Hyman
2012-07-10
Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to explore, see different places, and experience what else is out there in the world. Adventure called to me even at a young age, and now that I am old enough, I am ready to answer its call. I never knew why I had this urge, but something deep inside...
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A Year to…
Trevor Porter
2012-07-03
A gap year between high school and college can be whatever you make of it. It could be a transformative experience where you venture off somewhere you’ve never been before to discover yourself. It could be a year where you work to regain focus and passion for learning. It could be a year where you...
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Capstone Video
Priyanka Rao
2012-06-28
This is a video I made for my Global Citizen Year Capstone. I hope you enjoy seeing the world as I saw it this past year! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-MYEiK5wIM
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Returning Home
Joan Hanawi
2012-06-23
The expressions of utter shock and surprise mirrored my own smiling face as I laughed at the absurdity of it all. An Indonesian girl living in Huntington Beach, California speaking Ecuadorian Spanish. But that’s what happens when you become a Global Citizen Year Fellow. If I could choose one word to describe Global Citizen Year...
Read MoreReflections on The Blue Sweater
Priyanka Rao
2012-06-23
The Entrepreneur steps onto the scene of the developing world, and snaps her trained fingers… only to find that third-world countries don’t follow the same rhythm she does. As Jacqueline Novogratz begins down the path of international development, she faces many of the trials we do as Global Citizen Year (GCY) Fellows: high school graduates...
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Walking in Another’s Shoes
Jacklyn Joy Byrd
2012-06-23
Before my gap year in Ecuador, I believed my capacity for moral imagination was above average. I constantly told myself, “I’m so empathetic that I naturally enter the other’s shoes!” As a slightly cocky high-school graduate, maybe this was true. However, I had challenged myself to become a global citizen. During the first week of...
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