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
The Beauty Behind the Madness Feat. Maxxespo
Maxx H. Jordan Espinosa
2015-09-03
Day three in Shrequador: This place, this city, this cultural meltingpot of volcanophobia and awkward bus rides is incredible to say the least. I wake up every morning at 5:30 to the house shaking from large vehicles speeding down the narrow street outside. “I could try and go back to sleep but I think that...
Read MoreTaking a Leap of Faith
Marisa Etzell
2015-09-03
Note: This is a picture of my dad jumping into Crater Lake. I did NOT jump off, I was the photographer. Earlier this summer, my family spent time camping in Oregon. While there, we hiked Cleetwood trail, which led us to Crater Lake. We found a nice area to stop for lunch and I watched...
Read More
A New Chapter
Madison Lommen
2015-09-02
Today marks the first day of my bridge year. A new chapter waits to be written in Ecuador, where I will work and live with the support of an international network of 84 aspiring young leaders in four countries around the world: Brazil, India, Ecuador, and Senegal. As a global cohort, we have spent the...
Read More
Double Dutch
Talia Bailes
2015-09-02
My name is Tali Bailes. I hail from Cincinnati, Ohio where I recently graduated from a local public school, Sycamore High School. This summer I taught at Breakthrough Cincinnati. Breakthrough is an academic summer camp dedicated to preparing underserved middle schoolers for the school year and potentially even college. (Shout out to all of my...
Read MoreA Beautiful Welcome
Emery Harwell
2015-08-31
As the plane touched down in Quito, a flood of emotions swept over me. Excitement. Apprehension. Sadness. Anxiety. Curiosity. Excitement again… I was missing friends at home, but I couldn’t wait to experience this new place with my new friends from Global Citizen Year. Of course this was all complimented by the inability to pop...
Read More
This is life.
Rosalie Bull
2015-08-30
“It’s going to be hard.” I’ve heard that so many times leading up to this moment, usually from my own smiling mouth. “Oh yeah, it’ll be hard but definitely worth it.” I have a new appreciation for those words after this week. This week, I got my first taste of hardship;...
Read More
Style
Miyo McGinn
2015-08-29
Last October Taylor Swift released an album. My friend and I had both been looking forward to it for ages and wanted to listen to it, together, as soon as possible. I picked her up at 5am Monday morning, to give us enough time to listen before school started. It was still dark when we...
Read More
I’m not really sure how I feel right now? Frazzled?
Maxx H. Jordan Espinosa
2015-08-29
I looked down from the video titled “instructions for a bad day” and leaned over to the girl next to me. “I almost put my glasses on, thought I felt a tear”. She just looked at me unimpressed… As I looked around I saw a fellow, hunched over in his chair covering his face sobbing....
Read More
Emotions, Excitement, Ecuador, OH MY!
Makaleh Smith
2015-08-27
I was set on posting a semi sappy blog reassuring the people I love that Iwas no longer scared, but rather at ease with my thoughts about the monthahead. Well that was a week ago, and now I’m sitting in my dorm aftersaying too many goodbyes with only six hours until I leave Stanford andhead...
Read More
Que Chevere!
Hillarie Madden
2015-08-27
Sitting on my connecting flight from Dallas to San Francisco, I frantically glued my eyes to my Spanish survival guide. Trying to sound out the words quietly without looking too weird I asked myself “ what the hell did you get yourself into this time Hillarie? You got yourself in deep, I moving to Ecuador...
Read MoreAbout to Leave . . .
Skyler Narotsky
2015-08-27
It's four in the morning and the shuttle leaves to take us to the airport in an hour. The Senegal cohort has already left to catch their flight and the rest of us are just sitting around playing games and chatting about the events to come. To be completely honest, as far as I know...
Read More
The Question
Maria Nazarova
2015-08-27
Senior year is a stressful time at first, but becomes exciting once students finally decide upon the path they will embark on after graduating from high school. The application process, college tours and decision time are a different experience for all, but no one can escape the inevitable question: “What college are you going to...
Read More