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
A Forethought
Sarah Candee
2017-07-27
In just a few short weeks I will be boarding a flight to California for my pre-departure training. There, I will be meeting other Fellows in my cohort, getting my location in Senegal, and getting some basic training to better prepare myself for when I step off the plane in Africa. At this point, those...
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7 Days of Gratitude: Day #5
Fernanda Savaris Nunes
2017-06-07
DAY #5: My bike. There am I, having driving lessons and thinking how boring, wasteful and expensive it is to drive places. I miss being able to ride my bike everywhere. I miss feeling the wind on my face while watching hyped up kids yelling "TUBAAB, TUBAAB!" in the streets. I miss the freedom...
Read MoreLast words
Karina Lisboa Båsund
2017-06-02
I was writing my final blogpost about how I'm feeling now, having left Senegal and being back home. And though this blogpost is my last, I'm making it short, for I've understood and accepted that there's no real answer to what being "done" with this experience feels like. All I can say is that, like anything...
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7 Days of Gratitude: Day #4
Fernanda Savaris Nunes
2017-06-02
DAY #4: Food. YES, FOOD!!! I have loved Senegalese food from the first time I ate it. Yes, it is mostly rice and fish, and yes, it is sometimes so spicy you will sweat a lot for the next hour, but that is exactly why I loved it. The almost unimaginable amount of oil they...
Read MoreJUST DO IT
Marvellous John
2017-06-01
My life is made up of reminders and to-do-lists. I write down a lot of things for two reasons – so that I don’t forget, and so that I actually do them – the latter being the inspiration for this article seeing as I’ve had this draft and light bulb moment for about a month now. Being...
Read MoreCry Because It’s Over- A One-Minute Audible Capstone
Thea Holcomb
2017-06-01
When I left site, and later, left Re-entry training, I was among the Fellows who had visceral emotional reactions to the finality of the year. Nothing would ever be the same. Many Fellows, perhaps as a coping mechanism for their own feelings of loss, told me, “don’t cry,” or “don’t be sad!” Spacetime took me...
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A Photographic Expedition Into the Life and Times of Rëky Thiaw
Thea Holcomb
2017-05-31
Download full resolution images Available until Jun 30, 2017 Featured are six photos that provide a glimpse into my day-to day life in Senegal. What we choose to share about ourselves tends to be aspirational. I may be the proudest owner of a pair Chacos (and the accompanying Chaco tan) to ever have existed....
Read More7 Days of Gratitude: Day #3
Fernanda Savaris Nunes
2017-05-31
DAY #3: First Host Family My first host family was a gift from the universe of coincidences. Born in Cape Vert (and therefore a Portuguese speaker), my host mom was an angel who called me daughter from the first time we met. My host dad and I had very similar interests and opinions about politics,...
Read More7 Days of Gratitude: Day #2
Fernanda Savaris Nunes
2017-05-31
DAY #2: Teranga Teranga is a Senegalese word for hospitality, and yes, it is the most cliché and the most beautiful thing I can talk about that country. Anyone really going to Senegal will learn this word on their first days there, but it takes more than a couple days to understand what it really...
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Nguéniène: Kërg gi, Bin na
Pablo Quezada Cortés
2017-05-31
The old and big mango tree at the middle of the courtyard stands as the house’s life symbol. With more than 20 year inside its wood, its presence creates a peaceful space that makes it the center of social interaction at the N’dour house. Relatives and friends of the family will come and sit...
Read More7 Days of Gratitude: Day #1.
Fernanda Savaris Nunes
2017-05-27
This is a capstone about my 7 months in Senegal and the things I’m the most grateful for. For 7 days, starting today, I will post a reflection about something important for me from this experience. I hope you enjoy it. DAY #1: Meditation As this is about my stay in Senegal, I...
Read MoreAnglais (written March 2017)
Dora Lee
2017-05-23
The main reason I wanted to participate in Global Citizen Year was for the hands-on work experience that I would get through my apprenticeships. Therefore, I spent several days scanning the information about each country’s apprenticeship options. Seeing that India only had English teaching apprenticeships automatically made it my last choice for placement....
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