Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
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Class Year
Country
Yes, and…
Eva Ackerman
2013-09-13
I have never been good at not being good at activities. The extracurriculars I continued throughout the years are the ones that came naturally to me, never the ones that took work, because I always quit either mentally or in actuality before I tried to persevere. For years I played soccer, yet instead of trying,...
Read More¡Estamos Perdido!
Claire Wohlers
2013-09-05
Today, I got lost. Probably the most lost I’ve ever been. After Spanish classes today, we visited the United States Embassy for a security briefing and explanation of what the Foreign Service does here. During the security briefing, we were warned about the dangers of Quito. The taxis, the streets, the evenings, the buses; apparently...
Read MoreA Year of Many Firsts
JT Su
2013-09-05
Life is full of firsts–first steps, first day of school, first wish, first date. The list is endless, but there always seems to be a time when our lives become somewhat repetitive. I, myself, was a victim of this. I had become so accustomed to how I lived my daily life that I stopped growing....
Read MoreI Am Not A Dancer.
JT Su
2013-09-05
I have short legs and skinny arms. My coordination and sense of rhythm are horrendous. I don’t listen to much music. The result when I dance is ghastly, to say the least, and while normal people are able to quickly pick up moves, I cannot catch on if my life depended on it. Being unable...
Read MoreBienvenidos a Quito
Claire Wohlers
2013-09-04
“Bienvenidos a Quito and welcome to Ecuador,” the woman working at immigration told me, as she told every other person that walked by her window. But for me, I was being welcomed to my new home, Ecuador. Because our flight arrived at midnight, I had no choice but to submit to my body’s needs, immediately...
Read MoreQuestions. Thoughts. Feelings
Nikita Dolin
2013-09-04
What are you doing? What are you thinking? Where are you going? What’s the point? What is life? Why do we live? What meaning do we have? Do we have a set destiny? Can we change anything? Are we just here for the ride or can we choose every part? Why did that happen? Why...
Read MoreOnwards
Eva Ackerman
2013-09-04
While other families brought their old clothing to either a homeless shelter or a secondhand store, my mom brought them to her job. Our clothing, like many other family’s clothing, was donated to homeless families, yet in our situation, there was no middleman. Instead, my mom gave the clothing directly to her clients: homeless families. My...
Read MoreLight, Naked, Vulnerable
Aitran Doan
2013-09-04
I’m doing it. Yes, I am. There’s no going back. That’s it; the boy-cut Mom used to give us was coming back. Remember when we lived in Vietnam and she always cut our hair short so we can run around like crazy boys? I look back the old pictures now and laugh at our innocent...
Read MorePure Fellowship
Edward Katz
2013-08-29
The plane landed for the last time, finally arriving in California. I got my bags without a problem and headed towards baggage claim 3. After 10 minutes of walking with 50lb bags, I fall to the ground after finally reaching the meeting place, threw my bags on the ground and look for my group to...
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