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
Country
Pushing Past the Blockade : A little Update
Danielle Campbell
2019-12-30
For the longest time, I felt that I could not write. I have the privilege of my hands, brain nevertheless writing utensils to do so, but mentally a prison’s gate resided on top of my journalistic hopes and dreams. I felt like what I had to say about India would never be enough to surmise...
Read MoreTitle: 4 months ago
Mame Sarr
2019-12-25
Four months ago, day for day, I left my family to embark on this journey! I had no idea about what it'll hold for me. I was so anxious about it. Mentally and emotionally, I doubted myself to be able to handle it just fine. I had no clue about the people I'll spend the...
Read MoreMonday Morning
Carly Nolan
2019-12-23
Monday morning begins at 05:30. My morning is slow and filled with lots of tasks that don’t take much thinking. I get dressed in my work clothes: a kurta and leggings, before I make my way to the washroom to brush my teeth and hair, wash my face, and put on a little bit of...
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On The Subject of Education
Milana Venegoni
2019-12-16
So much has happened in such a short amount of time that I haven’t had time to document anything beyond a few quick snapshots on my phone and memories etched into my brain. It’s now December and I’ve been in-country for three months. I’ve had one learning seminar, a handful of...
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Te Extraño Cultura Mia
Melissa Matias
2019-12-16
I videochatted papi the other day to catch him up on everything. Homesickness. Actual sickness. Hindi class. My apprenticeship. The cohort. A WEDDING?! As I’m talking to my dad, I hear mami stirring red rice in a pot and singing along to the latest Ozuna song in the background. For most of my life, I’ve lived...
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Chasing Sunsets
Melissa Matias
2019-12-15
serenity /sɪˈrɛnɪti/ Learn to pronounce noun the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled. All my life, I’ve been fixated on this feeling of serenity. I was hoping that this time in India would bring me just that… but that was not the case. I think I was in search of the wrong thing. Maybe,...
Read MoreBecause India
Alexandra Dingle
2019-12-11
Hi, attached is my first blog post. – Alexandra Dingle GCY-1.docx
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3 Things the West Can Learn From India –– 3 Dinge, die der Westen von Indien lernen kann
Levin Stamm
2019-12-09
In few countries more people are lifted out of poverty, is the economy booming more than in India. Accordingly, one often reads that India is approaching the developed West at in increasing pace – and often forgets: the world’s largest democracy is already doing a lot of things better than the often highly acclaimed West....
Read MoreA Day in the Ears of Celia
Celia Morton
2019-12-01
They repeat. Every hour, every day, every week. Sounds. Sounds which first took up so much of my headspace that I collapsed by the time the clock struck three, but which have now become the white noise in my head. It’s dawn and the parrots and squirrels are celebrating when I wake up at 6:10,...
Read More-little things-
Brianna Torres
2019-11-28
I AM grateful.. for a lot. •|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|• I am grateful for my family back home I am grateful for my family here (also home) I am grateful for all of my new friends I am grateful for those who listen to me when I really need to be heard (you know who you are) I...
Read More27 P.M.
Melissa Matias
2019-11-16
My emotions are usually at a plateau. No substantially huge downs and even less ups. I just exist? I do everything I’m supposed to and those are my normal days. Of course, there’s amazing moments within these days but it’s incomparable to this rare feeling of “surrealism” (?), which I was able to experience last...
Read MoreA Day in a Life
Lara Solis
2019-11-15
"I was born in the day, right before lunchtime, and I arrived with a full appetite and it hasn't settled down at all" -Jenny Slate I wake up at 5 every morning. It is the only time that nothing moves and I like quiet. After breakfast, chai and biscuits, I walk down the hill that...
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