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
Learning to Love
Aliana Ruxin
2014-11-21
I’m learning to love 8:00 AM rotisserie chicken on market days. Coated with herbs and freshly cooked, it really does taste good. It also really does wake up my taste buds, smacking them with a burst of flavor in the morning that is becoming more familiar every week. Saturday market days begin with the beeps...
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Good and Bad Do Not Exist
Jillian Doke
2014-11-21
I woke up before the crack of dawn to groggily slide my way into the backseat of my brother-in-law’s truck, squeezing in four sisters with me. As we were making our way to Cotopaxi for a giant parade, I looked out the window into the sky that was still dark, and saw Mount Cumbaya rising through...
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Welcome to Tres Juanes!
Bella Bjornstad
2014-11-21
The barrio I live in is called Tres Juanes because three Juans live here, but Tres Juanes is in the paroquia of Picahiua, named so because if you pick (pica) at the ground enough, you will reach the best water (agua) in the province (Tungurahua). All of the roads are either dirt or cobbled, and...
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Five Steps to Falling in Love
Bella Bjornstad
2014-11-21
Step 1: Look Stupid. If you want to fall in love, you must dive right in. Smile a lot, because everything is so incredible and beautiful and new. You are going to look silly, because that is what pure joy and unadulterated enthusiasm looks like. Step 2: Forget All Past Lovers It is of utmost...
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October 8th
Noah Applebaum
2014-11-14
I frantically opened my eyes to an intolerable screeching noise. I checked my phone for the time. It was 5:42 AM. The screeching sound was coming from outside a small window in the top corner of my room. A dim light from the rising sun was illuminated the pig pen. I realized that the pen...
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Sneaking Crackers through the Seat Cushion
Samantha Srok
2014-11-14
I’m sitting on the steps up to my roof, journaling in the 30 minutes I have before I teach my afternoon English class. About five minutes pass before my older sister and her husband, who live across the street, walk up the steps to sit next to me and hand me two mandarins. “Pai,” I say,...
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Shifting Gears
Aliya Habib
2014-11-14
A teacher of mine once had us write down everything that was on our mind. After, she said “How are you supposed to pay attention in my class if you are thinking of so many other things?” That was my senior year. Challenging classes, clubs that needed to be managed, laps that needed to be...
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I Can’t Hear You
Sarah Richmond
2014-11-14
Three days after moving into a small farmhouse perched in the foothills of the Andes in Chimborazo, Ecuador, I descended our spindly dirt driveway in my first attempt to go on a run. I bopped along to the infectious drum line of Paul Simon’s Obvious Child, passing grazing cows, clusters of indigenous women hauling impossibly...
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Connecting, Among Other Things
Sarah Richmond
2014-10-30
**Written September 18th, delayed posting due to technical difficulties** While discussing our plans for the upcoming weekend with my host sister, I mentioned how sad it was that I would be leaving their family soon. She looked at me and smiled wistfully, shook her head and said, “Three weeks is not a very long time...
Read MorePersonal Mission Statement
Ian Frank
2014-10-28
Begin with the end in mind; each experience will shift that into perspective. Expect that you will not understand, ask questions, and seek the counsel of others for assistance. I am a meager captain steering this expedition in uncharted waters. The current has cut veins in the earth so deep, I can’t change or manipulate...
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First Impressions
Irie Ewers
2014-10-28
Take a moment to reflect about Ecuador. What do you know about this “developing” country? What images start circulating in your mind? Do you picture an immense Amazon filled with emerald trees and buzzing insects of iridescent colors? Maybe you visualize the prominent Galapagos Islands where Charles Darwin first broached the topic of evolution using...
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Dear Applicant (The Veil Lifted)
Bennett Quintard
2014-10-28
Dear Applicant, As you make your way through the grueling Global Citizen Year application process, I’m sure you are faced with many questions. One of the biggest questions you might be asking yourself is, What will it be like? Everyone you talk to will have something to say about this question, whether they be your...
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