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
One Year On
Ananda Day
2011-07-11
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a Global Citizen Year event. With new and old faces, prospective and returning fellows, and many of the people that make Global Citizen Year tick, I felt the close of another circle. This loop, the mark of being one year back from Senegal and...
Read MoreThe Experience of a Lifetime
Emily Hanna
2011-07-11
Growing up, it seemed like every single one of my peers had a special talent; each friend had something they excelled at, something that set them apart from the rest. There were my athletic friends, my musical friends, my academically successful friends…but try as I might, I could never quite find the discipline that suited...
Read MoreGrowing in Union
Samuel Parson
2011-07-09
Bonjur, comment alle-vous? Oh, hey, you just caught me practicing my French! I’m going to need that skill to voice myself out in Senegal Africa, where I’ll be making my stay as a Global Citizen Year fellow. Well, in case you don’t know me, my name is Samuel Parson. As I was born into the...
Read MoreGIRRRRL YOU CRAZY!!
Alexis Adams
2011-07-08
“Hey mom, I don’t think I want to go to college–at least not right now” “Hahahahaha (hysterical laughter) what are you talking about?” “I mean I know eventually I want to go–its just right now I’m so fed up and done with school, I want to do something different! I want to learn, grow, find...
Read MoreThe Wild Thornberrys
Kaya Hartley
2011-07-08
Hello, Kaya Hartley here. For starters, I believe I was 5 or 6 when I first decided I would travel the world. It all started with the TV show ‘The Wild Thornberrys.’ For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to watch it, It’s a cartoon about a family who goes on crazy explorations...
Read MoreYou Might Find This Interesting
Madeline Ripa
2011-07-07
Three months ago I was planning a half-year backpacking trip across New Zealand. I had travel guides at the ready and was busy researching prospective bungee-jumping companies and sites where they would be filming “The Hobbit.” I was ecstatic and ready to get going. Then, it just so happened, I got an e-mail. The subject...
Read MoreLiving as Others Do
Elias Estabrook
2011-07-06
These days I often find myself on a bus or a train, alone, absorbed in my thoughts, yet my eyes and ears opened to the surroundings. I pick up a bit of a conversation in Spanish here, a mother talking to her young baby there. I look out of the windows over the neighborhoods of...
Read MoreThe World Up Close and Personal
Lily Goldberg
2011-07-06
Hey, I’m Lily, 18 years old and from Glastonbury CT (quite the uneventful area). It is quiet and nice, but I have to admit it’s incredibly easy to get bored here, which is partly why I’m so thirsting for adventure! It helps to have hobbies — that is my primary boredom cure. I love making...
Read More“Follow your bliss”
Erica Anderson
2011-07-06
A few months ago, I was inspired by a simple phrase I heard in an interview of the late Joseph Campbell, a man who devoted his life to studying ancient myths. From his analysis of global texts and his own life experience, his best advice for living life was to “follow your bliss.” I clicked...
Read MoreThe Start of the Beginning
Semira Sanchez
2011-07-06
Ever since I was in middle school, I’ve always wanted to take a gap year. My family and I talked about it all through my high school years, so attending Global Citizen Year was the perfect match for me. I was introduced to this program by my chemistry teacher and automatically fell in love with...
Read MoreTrading My Safety Net for a Mosquito Net
Natalie Davidson
2011-07-06
In January of 2011 my mom suggested out of the blue that I consider applying to a gap year program. With college applications so recently finished and my second semester starting out as lazy and carefree as I was always promised, I had no desire to start filling out yet another application, especially for a...
Read MoreMy Reason For Adventure
Lucy Blumberg
2011-07-05
When a person attempts to fix the problems of a well-established system, they rarely succeed. Much more effective is when many people working in many different communities spur grassroots change, conquering the problem from the bottom up. This upcoming fall Global Citizen Year will give 57 Fellows the tools they need to create positive social...
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