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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ON APPRECIATION: Where I Come From and Where I Am Now
Mila Le
2015-10-07
My grandmother is a small, cute asian lady who has creases around her eyes that only grow deeper when she laughs and smiles. Her english is not too well, and I often receive lectures from her in her native language. Embarrassingly enough, I don’t always understand what she is saying and get tired of the...
Read MoreThe Atheist Goes to Church
Noah Hapke
2015-10-06
When I first had the idea to write this blog, I actually started with this title. I debated about titling it “Take Me [An Atheist] to Church” in honor of Hozier, but I didn’t think many people would get it. And, whereas this title is not meant to diminish the meaning of religion, nor is...
Read MoreChoice and Belonging
Trina Olsen
2015-10-06
I wrote this blog two days before I left for Ecuador, but didn’t feel ready to post it yet. Now, it is October 5th and I feel ready to share it. Finding and choosing where you belong after high school is difficult. For my entire life, the place I’ve spent the majority of my time...
Read MoreGoals for my Global Citizen Year
Hugo Santiago
2015-10-02
#1) Check off bucket list… Screw it-you know? Can’t help but think this is a GREAT time in my life, not to mention I don’t have to worry about any college assignments, extra jobs, curricular activities or whatever! I’m 17 and can practically do whatever I want-so I’m going to go out and do what...
Read MoreBucket List
Hugo Santiago
2015-10-02
Ecuador GCY Bucket List: Memoranda- Here are my original bucket list ideas that I wrote out during immersion week, decided to do a bit of editing (in parathesis) after thinking about what I really wanted from my Global Citizen Year. #1) Go to a bar after turing 18 (obviously not to drink, I just want...
Read MoreThe Power of Music
Noah Hapke
2015-10-01
It’s no surprise that I’m writing this while listening to music. Sitting on my bed in my mom’s gigantic pancho, playing some Lykke Li with my headphones in my ears and the coldness surrounding the rest of me. When I’m sad, or rather just thinking about home and people I miss, I always remind myself...
Read MoreDay One
Miyo McGinn
2015-10-01
6:30 am – I wake to the sound of barking dogs. Feeling the cold air on my face (the only part of me not clothed in fleece and under five blankets) I decide to remain in bed. 7:00 am – a growing need to pee, combined with a knock on my bedroom door, drive me out of bed...
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Broccoli in a Carrot Patch
Emery Harwell
2015-09-27
I’ve been in Pamar Chacrin for one week. In this town of 83 short, Ecuadorean, farming families, I stick out like broccoli in a carrot patch. This week has been rough for me. In Quito I was welcomed into an upper-middle class home with all the commodities I had back in Chapel Hill. I could...
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Into the Jungle
Jose Francisco Esquer Jr.
2015-09-26
All I know is what’s on this piece of paper. It’s crazy to think, it’s crazy to imagine, and it’s even crazier to realize that I will be calling the jungle that is the Amazonian rainforest, my home. My community placement, something so endless and full possibility, is confined to a sheet a paper. It...
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The Struggle with Sexuality: An Article from an Openly Gay Individual Living in Ecuador
Noah Hapke
2015-09-26
If you had asked me if I was going to come out to my host family in Ecuador last year, or even last month, I would have said “duh” and left it at that. But now, it just doesn’t really matter. During Pre-Departure Training in August, I talked a lot about being...
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Avatar Andrew
Andrew William Dunn
2015-09-24
This may seem a bit geekish, and borderline just very cliche-ish, however I can honestly draw so many parallels between what I am experiencing, and what Avatar Aang was going through before he could defeat the Fire Lord, and become the hero of the story. At this very moment I am an excellent air bender,...
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Baby Bugio
Gabriel Lucas Yerdon
2015-09-24
Several weeks ago I walked out of an airport in Curitiba, BR with mixed feelings of doubt, excitement, curiosity and homesickness. I have experienced a lot since then, yet those same feelings persist. As I crossed the threshold into a new country, the atmosphere felt surreal. I was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, expecting...
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