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
Learning to Teach
Claire Wohlers
2014-02-03
Here in Zuleta, one of my jobs is working at a school. I teach a combination of English, P.E., and “danza”, which is a combination of dance and music, neither of which am I particularly qualified to teach. I usually end up teaching the hokey pokey or the macarena, because I teach first and second...
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Transport Me
Claire Wohlers
2014-02-03
At home, I used to avoid the bus. I liked the people-watching, sure, but it was much more convenient driving or being driven. It would allow me to avoid walking the hills and sitting next to the inevitable cup of unidentified goo on the seat next to me. Here, I have uncovered a new love...
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I Will
JT Su
2014-02-03
Within us Chimborazo Fellows, there is something we do: we write each other letters for what we call our “rainy days”–days where hard memories suddenly and unknowingly convene and we feel our lowest of lows. Though these tough times are hard to overcome, they are the moments I will always remember–the times I dig deep...
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The Unimportance of Birthdays
Amanda Langan
2014-02-03
I was teaching the months in English to my students, and I thought I would incorporate each of their birthdays to make it slightly more fun. With all of the months translated on the white board, I explained the activity and received smiling faces, a sign of approval – so I thought. Without hesitation, I...
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Views on Sex
Ilana Marder-Eppstein
2014-02-03
Being my father’s daughter, I could not take my eyes off the screen, even though the movie was absolutely terrible. I was sitting in the back row of the coach bus, heading home from my Spanish class in the nearest city. Each Wednesday, I take a series of eight buses to get to and from my Spanish class in...
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What My Work Is
Leah Mesh-Ferguson
2014-02-03
As I’ve mentioned in past blog posts, I’ve been struggling with inactivity at my apprenticeship. I work with Plan International, an international children’s rights NGO, in an office in the northeast part of Riobamba. While I’ve often struggled with the idea that “there’s nothing for me to do,” I’ve recently realized how much I’ve learned...
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We Speak Up
Emily Brett
2014-02-03
*** As fellows of Global Citizen Year we are expected to participate in a “Speak Up” presentation. This leadership challenge not only allows fellows to share personal stories, idea or thoughts with the cohort, but also allows us to develop crucial critical thinking and public speaking skills. While in Ayampe, last weekend for Training Seminar...
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Because Mother Leaped with Faith
Soe Tha
2014-02-03
Anyone in the United States who´s ever written a college essay knows the “my parent is an immigrant” story. We kids of immigrant parents write to colleges for acceptance because our parents left their homelands, because they’ve busted their tails, because they want us to have better futures. I did it. My peers did it. This year’s applicants did...
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What is work?
Lauren Guido
2014-02-03
As I reach my four month anniversary of living in Ecuador I realize that my perspectives of what is considered work have been challenged by the work experiences I have endured as well as observed. At my previous apprenticeship I worked at an ecotourism museum called Kamak Maki, which consisted of Kichwa artifacts, a zoo, a medicinal garden, a natural...
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