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
First Blog Post
Elizabeth Farrell
2018-08-26
Thanks and Greetings To begin, I would like to thank everyone who donated to the fundraiser allowing me, and others like me, to take part in this exciting program. I really appreciate your support. I would also like to thank those who have supported me in different ways to achieve my goal and...
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First Blog
Jack Swartzentruber
2018-08-25
As the last one of my graduating friends to leave this summer, I’ve had the pleasure (or burden) of saying good-bye to all of them individually. While painful, going through so many farewells has given me the opportunity to reflect on the changes occuring in my life. Primarily, it has forced me to realize just...
Read MoreNew York City to Hyderabad!
Brandon Richards
2018-08-24
“It feels more and more real.” People have been asking me nearly everyday since I was accepted to Global Citizen Year, how I feel about going to India. I never really knew the answer to that question. As time went by from winter to spring to summer I would just tell everyone the...
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Naranja
Emiliana Reinoso
2018-08-23
HOLA AMIGOSSS Today is a Wednesday night in Chile. I came back from Singapore something like 2 months ago, and after some traveling around, I could open the window and observe the old port of Valparaíso. It’s a city full of colors, life, tragedy, and comedy. Life is intense here. Valparaiso is a city composed...
Read MoreLive From The Field
Faith Anderson
2018-08-22
I spent the first half of my senior year basically living in my college adviser's office (bless you Sara Hogue) she was incredibly patient with me and consistently guided me through the tedious process of college application, For a first generation college student applicant, whom was also struggling with intense anxiety and depression, the help...
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Why I Am Taking A Gap Year!
Leonie Tollefson
2018-08-20
As I stressfully prepare to leave my home next week for 8 months in India, I’ve begun to reflect on what exactly prompted me to take a gap year. It’s an idea I’ve been tossing around for years, but never fully committed to until my senior year. I thought for my first blog post...
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My Future Found Me
Sophia Alfaro
2018-08-14
If a stranger were to ask me to describe myself, I would say I am annoyingly persistent, proactively procrastinated, and blindly determined. I’m unbalanced but still crossing the tightrope. When it comes to me, where there’s a will, there’s always a way. And that’s how I’m finding myself here today, uploading my thoughts for Global...
Read MoreThe End
Sy Richardson Dragon
2018-06-08
For my capstone I presented to a few of my high school classes about my experience doing GCY. I was reminded of my junior and senior year when it really seemed there was only one path, or only one "right" path, after high school. I told students how I wished there was someone telling me...
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To Infinity & Beyond
Alexis Floyd
2018-06-08
Completing capstone was not easy for me because it just made me think about what I have left behind during my bridge-year experience. It has caused me to develop the fear of losing important relationships I built with the people in the above photo, and other people I met along my gap-year journey. Relationships built...
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Dear India: Shout Out To The Auto Wala!
Alexis Floyd
2018-06-08
Dear India, You’ve taught me a lot, and for now we have temporarily parted ways. I remember they days where I had to walk to the auto station not too far from my host family’s house and the man in the picture above was always there. Not only would I see him there, but...
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Capstone project: A rainbow of sweet contradictions
Marta Allegue Souto
2018-06-07
A few days ago, I organized a photography exhibition under the name of “A rainbow of sweet contradictions”. On it, I decided to share the stories of several people within my in-country community to try to explain certain aspects of how tradition and innovation are shaping India’s culture and society. These “contradictions” helped me navigate...
Read MoreWriting While Away
Sy Richardson Dragon
2018-06-07
India was the first time in a while I found myself with an abundance of unstructured time just to think. I read more for pleasure than I had for most of high school, discovered new and foreign music, explored a diverse and expansive culture, and wrote — music, journal entries, poems — about as much...
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