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
(Not) The End
Kaitlyn Johnke
2014-08-03
I started crying on the morning two days before I left Gale Neenang Dialamba et Babang Sori, the place I have called home for the last eight months and always will. “Wataa wulu, wataa wulu. A wuli. Yewni.” (Don’t cry, don’t cry. Alright, you’ve cried, enough.) My family, outside the kitchen, was telling me, waiting...
Read More
Venturing Off the Grid
Rachel Swartz
2014-08-01
My Mother and I are currently stuck at Kansas International Airport on our way back home to Seattle. At this point we’ve been waiting for 2 hours due to “Tornado Warnings in Denver” whatever that means… I’ve always enjoyed sitting in Airports, there is something special about people-watching when you travel. Perhaps because we are...
Read More
Where It All Begins – Communicating
Kyra Halpenny
2014-08-01
July 31, 2014 – Elko, NV, United States For as long as I can remember I have been a traveler. For the last week my papa and I have been making the trek from Saskatoon, Canada to Fremont, California. Before that I drove the west coast to British Columbia, and that is just what I...
Read More
Why?
Elston Tortuga
2014-08-01
I’ve been avoiding the task of fleshing out an answer to the question of why I decided to put off college for a year in favor of living in Senegal for eight months. Sure, I’ve formulated my logical reasoning – I’m craving an adventure, I require a new perspective in order to justify the hefty...
Read More Anticipation
Ava Rofougaran
2014-07-31
I feed off new cultures. I have always been enraptured by the ways people live in other parts of the world. It may seem odd, but when I was little, I begged my parents to send me abroad for the summer. During my travels, I had no homesickness, no separation anxiety, no fear of unfamiliarity—just...
Read More
Mangi Fi Rekk
Rachel Schrattenholzer
2014-07-30
In Wolof, “How are you?” is said “Nanga def?” which literally means “Where are you?”. The usual response to this is “Mangi fi rekk.” which means, “I am here.” By saying “I am here,” you are saying that you are alive, and that is something to be grateful for. “I am here” and that in...
Read More Just Getting Started
Grace Mannix
2014-07-30
Maybe not going to college right after graduating high school makes you nervous. Maybe you can only afford it with monetary help. Maybe there are requirements you aren’t sure you can meet. Maybe all of the vaccinations you have to get, especially for diseases you haven’t even heard of, are a little intimidating. Perhaps you’re...
Read More Mixed Faces
Danielle Spencer
2014-07-30
When people ask me the obvious, just graduated High School, question “so where are your going to school next year?” I can never help but to laugh and just blurt out “Africa” and watch the looks on people’s faces. I have gotten so many mixed reviews and mixed faces from my questioners. There are those,...
Read More
The Small Work in the Great Work: Homecoming Reflections
Alexandra Ding
2014-07-24
“Iiiiiin West Metro Minneapolis born and raised / on the playground is where I spent most of my days.” Like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, I was raised on the playground—in cul-de-sacs dotted with sprightly lawns, weather-hardened gravel, and roving bands of kid-cops and preteen-robbers. Time has changed much, but play—discovered in tire-swings and...
Read More
Halugol, Famugol
Kaitlyn Johnke
2014-07-15
(Pulaar to English title translation: To Speak, To Understand) In February, I alone headed out to Dakar to meet my family as they arrived in Senegal to visit me. Being fourteen hours away by car from my host family, I called them on the phone and my host mother, Neena Dialamba, asked “A suusi lootade?”(Are...
Read More
False Impression
Shakhi Begum
2014-06-28
Journal entry from March 19th. “Cai añ fi! Ceebujen bi neex na!” (Come eat here! The rice and fish is good!) Obviously I won’t turn this down. I have really good rice and fish in my house. Even my dear fellow friend, Lily, would agree with this. In my host family, there are four compounds...
Read MoreVideo for Capstone Presentation
Shakhi Begum
2014-06-24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfnMbJiPVNU This is the link to my capstone video. I lost most of my videos but compiled a lot of pictures and put them together. This is just a little bit of my experiences I had while living in Senegal. I hope you all like it 😀
Read More