Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
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Class Year
Country
Life lessons from a four year old
Henry Duerr
2017-03-04
I’ll admit it: I never really liked kids. While I enjoy working with them, and certainly don’t hate them, I never really understood the appeal of having a tiny, incompetent roommate who doesn’t pay rent or do the dishes. And then I made my first friend here in Ecuador. Allow me to explain via my...
Read MoreMean Girls and Privilege
Ana Gvozdic
2017-02-28
You know your bridge year is the year of learning, when even watching Mean Girls with your friends as a break of Ecuadorian life starts relating to the things that have occupied your mind in the last days. So here are the things we can learn from Mean Girls about privilege, especially within the international...
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Mountains are big.
Rachel Koltsov
2017-02-23
Mountains are big. Traveling alone is scary. Especially in a country where I don’t speak the native language so well. You start to crave familiarity and wish that the words coming out of your mouth were conjugated perfectly and always understood without having to be repeated 3 or 4 times. Luckily I didn’t travel alone....
Read MoreThoughts on Womanhood
Amelia Wohlers
2017-02-23
In my house there is one mirror. It is hung at a height which gives me a brilliant view of my torso and maybe even a bit of upper thigh. It is located in my small bathroom that, much to my dismay when I have to go to the bathroom at night, does not have...
Read MoreWhy take a bridge year?
Hanna Karnei
2017-02-23
This video is a brief summary of why I decided to take a bridge year and what this experience meant to me so far. Six months into my bridge year, I can tell that it’s been a tremendously meaningful journey marked by unexpected highs and lows. I’ve been molded and rebuilt by this place in...
Read MoreIndependent Travel
Gabriel McCarthy
2017-02-23
I just got back from my independent travel. I spent 12 days at the beach with my 2 good friends. We stayed at a cheap hostel in a shared room with anywhere from 2 to 6 other people. While we were there we met 2 Norwegians who were also doing a gap year, although theirs...
Read More7 Months in country
Jesse Aranda-Comer
2017-02-23
For a good deal of my time spent in Ecuador, I felt a disconnect between that which I set out to accomplish and what actively pursuing those goals would eventually feel and look like. This confusion would play a large role in the way I would go about sharing my experience with others, whether that...
Read MoreAn Interview with My High School
Kai Milici
2017-02-16
My high school newspaper interviewed me for an article they are doing on gap years. Thinking about the questions allowed me to look back on why I decided to do this year and to see how my mindset has changed as the months have passed. I think these answers give a pretty comprehensive view of...
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Immersed At Last, Immersed At Last
Phoebe Park
2017-02-10
Live with a family. Have a local job. Go deeper than a traveler. Become part of a community and make a meaningful and informed contribution. Go from they to we. On Global Citizen Year’s website, immersion is defined in this way. I’ve heard the word a hundred times before and during this program thus far,...
Read MoreThis is Ecuador: Musica
Sophia Pandelidis
2017-02-08
Music is an integral part of my every day life here in Ecuador, whether it be listening to "Safari" ten thousand times with the teenagers in the kitchen where I work, dancing to Widinson Bomba with my three year old sister before dinner, diligently learning the lyrics to "Chantaje" with my ten year old brother,...
Read MoreThe Price to Pay for Ambition
Kai Milici
2017-02-01
Let me paint a picture of “family” in my 1200-person town of Imbaya. My mom Mayrita, dad Segundo, brother Paul, and sister Mishell live with me in the center of town. Right next door is my abuelita Blancita who runs a tienda and a merienda restaurant outside of her kitchen every day. Upstairs is her...
Read MoreNatural Medicines of Ecuador
Antoinette Cavagnolo
2017-02-01
Advantages of Natural Medicine Lower cost Widespread availability Less side effects Natural and non-toxic History of Natural Medicine People have used natural medicine long before recorded history. The first recordings of natural medicine goes back to 3,000B.C. In the 19th century scientist began extracting active ingredients from plants. Chemist began making their own version...
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