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
Finding My Pieces of Home
Jillian Doke
2014-09-07
During our training at Stanford, we were asked to observe a place for 30 minutes and document our experience. I decided to wander over to the beautiful chapel on campus, and realized how little I actually notice when I don’t take the time to step back. Being inside that church gave me such a peace...
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Laundry Day
Hadiyah Grubish
2014-09-06
Today was laundry day. Today I washed clothes the “traditional way.” Today I soaked all the clothes I brought with me to this beautiful country in brightly colored buckets in the hot sunshine of our roof. Today I bent over a shallow concrete sink much shorter than I for hours scrubbing every minuscule piece of...
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Beat of Brasil
Pooja Thekdi
2014-09-05
When we dance We are in-suppressible. Boisterous yet harmonious. We hear the music and we move. Boogie, Wop, Charleston, and Foxtrot, Careening, Jitter-bug-ing, Leanin’ down the block The music is in the road, in the sky and in the sea. Lagoa has a soft hymn. The kind you have to hear to believe. A melody...
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Coincidence in Quito
Aliana Ruxin
2014-09-04
We were about to leave the hostel, to cross the street and meet our Quito host families. I hoisted my backpack onto my back, grabbed my small duffel bag and reached for my rolling duffel. Balancing everything, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to exit the hostel. Looking down at my rolling duffel,...
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Un Nuevo Amigo
Bennett Quintard
2014-09-04
As we sat at a table in La Cuchara de San Marcos with our new friend, Pablo Salme, the sun setting over the awe inspiring Andes, he told us why he chose to help us that day. Here is a translation of Pablo Salme’s words: “When I see that you are happy, it makes me...
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Where I’m Meant to Be
Aliana Ruxin
2014-09-03
Last Thursday morning, on the first day of Pre-Departure Training, Abby Falik welcomed the 2015 Fellows with an inspiring speech. More emotions than I could count filled my heart as I thought about the journey I was about to begin, the friendships I was about to cultivate and the challenges I was about to encounter....
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How to Make Friends
Jaxom Moore
2014-09-02
Walking from the security check to the gate for my plane in PDX airport I was alone. I was more alone than I had ever been in my life. At that hour long moment of torture I had left all my friends in Portland, and I had yet to create new friends at Global Citizen...
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Together We Can
Hannah Phalen
2014-09-02
There have been only a few times in my life where after only a short time with a group of people, I feel comfortable and supported. These have been the times when we all have a something very strong in common. This time, we all are scared out of our minds yet so excited… but also...
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Awakening
Samantha Srok
2014-09-02
The plane is flying over Quito for the first time and we see the lights of the city. I have been waiting five months for this moment. “We are here,” I think to myself, “We are actually finally here.” My heart has been pounding heavy for the past week, and most of that is excitement,...
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