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
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Update from the Field
Gabriel McCarthy
2017-01-24
1.21.17 So my computer broke. It fell and the slot where the charger goes in is broken. I was really pissed. The plan for the day was for my family and I to go out to lunch, and this was actually my Christmas present to them; for me to treat them all to lunch. The...
Read MoreLife is happening.
Rachel Koltsov
2017-01-24
This was my first year celebrating Christmas. My host sister and I took part in a christmas “parade” on the 10th of December. We were dressed up as angels with ginormous gold wings. The “parade” was a culmination of 9 days of Navideño, where my host family would gather with their friends and discuss the...
Read MoreOn Gringos and Not Gringos
Ana Gvozdic
2017-01-24
“Yo no soy de los Estados Unidos, soy de Europa” – the proud tone I used to say this sentence surprised me, considering I don’t normally identify myself based on the arbitrary geographical borders. The association with Europe was not enough for me, for it only painted the picture of developed Western Europe, and I found myself very...
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The Epiphany of Utterly Underwhelming Travel
Sophia Pandelidis
2017-01-24
With my stomach lurching at each swell in the waves, jellyfish welts running up my arm, and my skin prickling with cold, I thought, This cannot get worse. The nauseating boat ride back from Isla de la Plata was absolutely the cherry on top to an utterly underwhelming, sometimes hilariously horrible trip to Southern Ecuador...
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A Green(ga) Christmas
Rose Hoang
2017-01-24
This was my first time celebrating Christmas away from home and everything that comes with: bomb Vietnamese food, the aunts and uncles you see a few times a year, the comfort of knowing everyone and feeling like this is exactly where you should be, the lame traditions, cute family photos and the easiness of things....
Read MoreA Window
Noa Bridson
2017-01-18
At Pearson College I took this course in philosophy in which we studied free will for a month. To be honest, reading the works of Holbach and Sarte and positing if the caged bird was free or not, really was of little interest to me. Little did I know however, that the events that would proceed in...
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Learning to Learn
Noemi Liebe
2017-01-18
There is this misbelief about people who take a “gap”-year that I´ve repeatedly come across, and that for some time, I bought into myself. “So I guess you just needed a break?” “That makes sense, some people need a bit of time to figure out what they want to do with their life before going...
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Musings on Gender and Tradition in Ecuador
Sara Barac
2017-01-18
The family I am placed in is undoubtably privileged in the grand scheme of things; they are extremely established in Pimampiro and their name is well-known. Additionally, they, like most folk perceived as respectable, are also Catholic. A prayer and crossing themselves before every trip, occasionally attending church, praying in a circle together, and reading...
Read MoreTHE WORLD IS YOUR PLAYGROUND: THINGS TO LEARN FROM CHILDREN
Hanna Karnei
2017-01-12
I spend a good deal of my time in-country with children and I learned a ton about them. For the past three months, we have been spending 20 hours a week together in kindergarten. I came there thinking that I’ll be teaching English. But honestly, I ended up doing all sorts of other things...
Read MoreWhat The Holidays are About
Antoinette Cavagnolo
2017-01-06
Christmas was challenging without my family this year. I couldn't avoid fantasizing about the Puerto Rican pasteles my grandma makes. Everyone sitting around the table, laughing, and eating our traditional yearly meal. Instead, I ate new foods, experienced new traditions and sat at a different table with different people. Also coming to find out all...
Read MoreHow I Became a Dental Assistant at Age 18
Antoinette Cavagnolo
2017-01-06
Coming into Ecuador I didn't know what to expect. I thought it would be a little easier since I grew up in a Mexican/ Puerto Rican household. I grew up with Hector Lavoe and Spanish speakers. I found little things throughout my day that reminded me of home and felt familiar in my first days...
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Halfway Point Updates
Dominic Snyder
2016-12-26
Considering that it has been a while since my last blog post, I thought it would be appropriate to honor the holiday season with a short update. Just two weeks ago marked the halfway point of the program, which is crazy in two senses. On one hand it amazes me that nearly four months have...
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