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
Education Relies on Blind Faith
Jamie Constantine
2018-01-18
There have been a few moments while in Ecuador where my immediate thought in response to something someone has said was, “that’s wrong.” Most of these thoughts have occurred at my apprenticeship. I work as a co-teacher to English teachers, but, sometimes I end up simply observing in a classroom during another subject. A few...
Read More
Año Viejo
Olivia Dutra
2018-01-13
The daytime when the festivities begin. In this video my sister and neighbors are participating in a new years tradition in Ecuador. For kids they dress as old people and dance in the street waiting for cars to try and pass, and when they do they dance to the car to ask for money or...
Read More
Alternative education methods?
Maria Lanza Arancibia
2018-01-12
[vc_video link=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGx3YjzmDig&feature=youtu.be’] Meet Pacífico Fichamba, my host-dad. Paci is writing his thesis in order to graduate with his masters in Ecoturism in Protected Areas. He believes that there is an alternative to the way natural sciences and ecoturism are taught in this country. As Pacífico says “In these areas, many of us practice agriculture in...
Read More
5 Lessons from Orejas
Natalie Choi
2018-01-11
This blog is dedicated to an amazing friend, Orejas, who has always been by my side. Orejas is this cute little dog who follows me everywhere I go: cafes, restaurants, markets, shops… Sometimes it can be troublesome if I want to go to a place where dogs can’t enter; nevertheless, whenever I’m with him I always...
Read MoreThe First Time I Cried this Year
Danny DeBare
2018-01-11
I just couldn't hold the tears back. My emotions just took the best of me; one could call it a culmination of a very touching journey. Ecuador finally found a way to crack me: abuelita Coco remembered her father. Got you there! I think that's what the professionals call click bait. By Coco, I'm not...
Read More2018 10 things I need you to know!
Allison Vaught
2018-01-09
I will keep pushing myself. Being okay with failures. I’m not a perfect, I’m human. I will continue to love my body. Smile and Laughter are most important. I have flaunts but that’s okay. Tomorrow will be a better day. Take a moment to breathe go with the flow. These children have impacted me the...
Read MoreMy Family
Hamid Ahmed Abulrhman
2018-01-09
My host family is big and diverse. I have two host brothers, Carlos who is 21 and a fresh uni graduate. And Adrian who is 16 and in high school I also have an older host sister Valeria. She is already married and has a son named Pedro, or as everyone calls him, Pedrito. ...
Read MoreNo Fear Gap Year
Alexandra Moreno
2018-01-07
December 28th was my nineteenth birthday. I didn’t exactly know how to feel about my birthday because it was three days after my first Christmas away from home and a really bad wave of homesickness. But if there was one thing I have learned from this year, fellow fellows will always surprise you in the...
Read MoreHave I Changed?
Elizabeth Ollila
2018-01-07
A quick snapshot of me right now: I am sitting in a crowded bus next to an old Ecuadorian man who sells fruit by hopping from one bus to the next hoping its riders are hungry. I'm on my way home from the city two hours from my town. It has been 3 days since...
Read MoreMy 5 Lessons
Sophia Comer
2018-01-04
Just recently I’ve felt like I’ve moved out of survival and learning mode, and into a mentality where I feel like I can create. So here l am, 4 months into my Global Citizen Year experience, I’ve been thinking about what I might write about for quite a while. What is worth the, what I...
Read Moreblog post
Oumaima Rhalem
2018-01-03
(very) rough draft of my reflections so far Who are not, but could be. Who don’t speak languages, but dialects. Who don’t have religions, but superstitions. Who don’t create art, but handicrafts. Who don’t have culture, but folklore. Who are not human beings, but human resources. Who do not have faces, but arms. Who do...
Read MoreMadre. Nanay. Mother.
Layla Solatan
2018-01-02
My seven-year-old, meatless arms surge a fifteen-inch wooden spoon through a sea of nut and milk as it slowly transforms into a stubborn pillow of sucrose. I’ve thrown crumbs of pili nut along with three cans of condensed milk and sugar into an unforgiving wok. In just a few hours, these simple elements will all...
Read More