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
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...
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Living My Dream
Hannah Phalen
2014-07-30
“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey It has always been a top priority of mine to see the world. I grew up being taught that you need to make sacrifices, but anything you want to do is somehow possible. I didn’t grow up...
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Prologue
Myriam Sitterson
2014-07-30
I believe that one of the greatest skills an artist possesses is his or her ability to make a flat surface look three-dimensional. It’s incredible, really. Right now, my knowledge of the world is largely two-dimensional. A lot of the time, I feel ignorant, shut-off, naive. Like I’ve grown up inside a box. A box...
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Planet Waves
Kamilah Udomsap
2014-07-30
While the looming shadow of an empty piggy bank haunts my dreams, it is accompanied by thoughts of a new world, a divergent culture, and a breath of air that I’m unaccustomed to. Upon being accepted into the blessing that is Global Citizen Year, I’ve already gotten a new lease on life, but it’s come...
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Five Thousand Mile Bridge
Nicholas Chieng
2014-07-30
Hello! My name is Nick Chieng; I am 18 years old and a graduate of Franklin High School’s class of 2014. “Half of the time I couldn’t understand what he was saying because he spoke with a thick accent, but immersed in the moment of it all, that didn’t even matter. There I was walking the...
Read More Leaving my Reverie
Samantha Srok
2014-07-30
For the past 26 days that I have been out of school, 21 have been spent working at Camp Alice Chester as K/PA (Kitchen/Program Assistant). I’ve been going to camp since I was seven and especially since I started my volunteer year there, 2 years ago, it’s been a key part of my life. It’s...
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Life as we know it
Lindsay Saligman
2014-07-30
A few weeks ago, as we walked across our high school’s parking lot, a friend of mine turned to me and said soberly “this is the end of life as we know it.” The first thing that came to my mind upon hearing this was the first thing that always comes to my mind upon...
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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 The Beginning
Eustacia Meyer
2014-07-30
Hello, my name is Eustacia Meyer, but most people call me Staci. I was born in Iowa and have lived in Ohio for most of my life. I have never really had the chance to leave the Midwest, so taking a bridge year in a foreign country was a shock to most of my family....
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