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
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“The days are long but the years are short”
Rachel Teevens
2013-08-29
Its been 5 days since I left home for California. I can honestly say that Wednesday morning in the airport I felt horrible. I had said my goodbyes and I sat alone while I waited for my flight. I was nervous, scared and even second guessing my decision. “It’s only 8 months. If I hate...
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On Global Citizen Year
Medhane-Alam Olushola
2013-08-20
To be completely honest, I was not completely enamored or enticed by the idea of taking a gap year for a very very very long time. My mother is the type of mother that reads parenting books and does research into what will be the best for the raising of a child, and since I...
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Just the beginning
Emily Gray
2013-07-22
During my sophomore year of high school I made the decision that I wanted to travel before going to college. I wasn’t sure where or how I was going to make this happen, but I knew that this was something I really wanted, and I was going to do anything in my power to make it so. When junior...
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the art of ascension
Jahshana Olivierre
2013-07-19
A face among many undistinguished faces, a lost soul among many lost souls: who was I? What did others’ perception of me mean to me? What was my identity? These questions were the stepping stones to a new quest – a quest of self-discovery. I felt trapped – trapped in a box, a dark melancholic box. I feel...
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A part of my story
Vruj Patel
2013-07-19
Ever since I can remember, I have loved to hear stories. Though most of my family never went to college, they are steeped in years of Indian and Hindu mythology and there is nothing more exciting to me than learning about my ancestors and their countless traditions. Even without a PhD, my grandfather continues to captivate me with tales of Lord...
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The Beginnings of Story
Cameron Carrick
2013-07-19
Writing this post has proven more difficult than I anticipated. I’ve started four posts, each telling a different story about the path that took me to Global Citizen Year, but haven’t finished a single one. The problem is that I don’t know which story to tell. The one about a kid from a small, touristy...
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Leaving Home
Emily Stevens
2013-07-19
I have a pesky habit of chronically putting the cart before the horse in almost every aspect of my life. I get these big ideas and become impassioned. But when it comes to the development and execution of the idea, I get intimidated by the construct I’ve built. Apparently I’m not the only person afflicted...
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Navigating a Jungle
Kaitlyn Johnke
2013-07-18
On my trip to Guatemala with the Oakland Zoo, we released two parrots into a mangrove forest. Because they had not been properly rehabilitated, our guides suspected that there was a good chance that the birds would get caught again by poachers. The parrots did not know to be afraid of humans, which was demonstrated...
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A Dinner Over Screens
Guzly Guzman
2013-07-18
Logging on to Google+ was not that new to me. I’d browsed the page a few times before but never in depth. Certainly not enough to know every nook and cranny of the site and how it worked. By the time I got to Global Citizen Year’s page I was too late and the hangout...
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Wake Up
Jose Duran Jr
2013-07-18
As of late I’ve noticed a peculiar habit forming in my daily routine. Everyday at sunset, like clockwork, I quietly make my way to a secluded spot near Houston’s Hobby Airport. As the summer progresses my interest in this place has been growing exponentially, almost to the point of a mild obsession. Each day I venture out to my...
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To Senegal and Back Again
Aly Counsell
2013-07-17
“I just knew. The moment I stepped on campus, I knew it was the school for me.” This is what I heard time and time again from graduates of my high school when they talked about choosing a college, and those were the words that comforted me as I plunged into the unnerving labyrinth of...
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Wait…WHAT? I am going to Senegal!?!!
Shakhi Begum
2013-07-16
Letting go of his little tiny hands, I knew I didn’t want to come to the United States of America. Warid was only four months old when my family moved here, leaving him with his mother, my older sister, Shammi. I loved them too much to leave them all the way on the other side...
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