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
Gestalt
Cheyenne Tessier
2012-07-10
As I have learned in life, we can’t be with people or places forever. They die; we move; we lose touch: every relationship comes to an end. It took me a long time to realize this. It’s okay to not be with a person, even a person we love, especially if we want to grow...
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Seeing the World
Caroline Blanchard
2012-07-10
Hi! My name is Caroline Blanchard. I am 17 years old and I have never been out of the country. Well, not really anyway. And now I am about to leave on a 9-month adventure in Senegal that I never pictured myself going on. The summer before my senior year, I was sitting at a...
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“You Might Be More Cut Out For This Than You Think”
Grace Bachmann
2012-07-10
I heard a pen click and scribble as the forensic investigator hung up the telephone and marked off the name of a decedent’s relative. He pivoted his chair and studied me: the intern sitting in a swivel office chair at the desk next to him, my hands restlessly toying with latex gloves, damp from my...
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Full Feeling
Emily Ford
2012-07-10
As I sit in my compact dorm room at boarding school in Indiana, my three roommates watch, entertained yet baffled, my interactions with my Indian host family over Skype. It has been a year since our tear-stained, poignant departure after a summer immersion/service program where I first understood the meaning of “full feeling”. The simple...
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I’m Ready
Aissatou Barrie-Rose
2012-07-10
Hello Everyone! My name is Aissatou, and I am more than thrilled to spend the upcoming eight months learning somewhere other than a boring classroom. To start, here are a few random facts about me: I enjoy sunbathing much more than the average person, I’m always listening to music, I buy the majority of my...
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Light
Claire Amsden
2012-07-10
Privilege, happenstance, good parenting, and community have all led me to Global Citizen Year. First, I have had the privilege to live in the United States, giving me access to resources and benefits that many people in our world will never experience. Without this, Global Citizen Year would not be an option I could consider....
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My Un-Official Auto-Bio Will be Accompanied with Tips on How to Smile
Christopher LaBorde
2012-07-10
I’ve always been a big questioner. I think “Why?” is my favorite one. A favorite story my mom likes to tell about me goes: He’s four years old, we’re in my bedroom talking. He stops, and gets this deep, contemplative, inquisitive look on his face and asks, “Mom? Why awh we heow?” (why are we...
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Expanding My Horizons
Annie Schwandner
2012-07-10
Hello everyone, my name is Annie Schwandner and I am 18 years old. I was swooped up from China as a nine-month old baby by my adoptive parents, and then raised as a Cincinnatian for nearly my whole life. I have so much love, respect and appreciation for my hometown, Cincinnati, but I have never...
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“A Girl From South Bronx Going to Senegal”
Alison Rivera
2012-07-10
The dirty worn out shoes made their way down the aisle, their owner slowly shaking a used Dunkin Donut’s coffee cup. There are probably about two dimes in the cup. He starts off telling his tragic story: lost job, no family, hunger. The woman across from me clutches her Louis Vuitton purse tightly; the teen...
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I Am Because You Are
Matthew Travers
2012-07-10
When I graduated from high school, I decided to move from California to New York City. There, I served as a mentor with City Year, a non-profit that works in inner-city schools. It was through this organization that I learned of the concept Ubuntu. This African philosophy is based on the belief that everyone is...
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My Search for Self
Marisa Comeau-Kerege
2012-07-10
Hi! My name is Marisa Comeau-Kerege. I was born in Mountlake Terrace, WA but I moved to Hartland, WI when I was seven. Although upon arrival, the village of Hartland seemed small and constricted, and made me miss home. However, I met many great friends and was introduced to my creative outlet of figure and...
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My Niche
Olivia Hill
2012-07-10
Everyone has their niche. Whether it’s painting, reading, or music, there’s always something that a person loves to do or is good at. For me, it’s traveling. In the 8th grade I went to Japan for ten days, and it changed my life. Before I went on that 10 day trip to Nishiwaki, I was...
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