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
So Long, Farewell
Leah Mesh-Ferguson
2013-08-29
“Actually, I will be spending next year in Ecuador…” This Thursday at 7:00 AM, I will climb onto a shuttle bus with 50 other Fellows, my duffel and backpack packed under the bus, and depart Stanford University for the airport. We will all check in together. We will all go through security together. We will...
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Taking a Moment to Breathe
JT Su
2013-08-29
6:30 AM. I roll out of bed and trudge to my bathroom like a lifeless zombie, wishing for just ten more minutes of sleep. After getting ready for school and always seeming to miss breakfast along the way, I arrive for orchestra rehearsal by 7. Then comes my long day of school until 3. I...
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“The days are long but the years are short”
Rachel Teevens
2013-08-29
Its been 5 days since I left home for California. I can honestly say that Wednesday morning in the airport I felt horrible. I had said my goodbyes and I sat alone while I waited for my flight. I was nervous, scared and even second guessing my decision. “It’s only 8 months. If I hate...
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my first attempt at entertaining you
William Kershner
2013-08-29
My name is William Kershner and after living in Palo Alto, CA for eighteen years, I’ll be living in Ecuador for one year. Compared to everyone else from Palo Alto nothing in my life has been unique…until now… I’ve progressed through thirteen years of public education with plans to attend a four year college. I’m...
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Procrastination
Russell Gens
2013-08-29
I am a born procrastinator. Projects are saved for the last minute, homework left untouched until sunday night, even this post was pushed back until mere hours before fall training. That is not however, how I feel about my upcoming bridge year. This isn’t some elaborate plot to escape the threat of summer reading, nor...
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My Perfect Year
Sarai Patterson
2013-08-29
When people ask where I’m from, I’m not exactly sure what to say because I feel like I’m from so many places and people and experiences. I am from sweet California lemons, rusty swing sets, and mudcastles, but I am just as much a part of the harsh Utah desert. I am from sharp red...
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Heading out, not moving in
Isaiah Fischer-Brown
2013-08-29
Today, rather than unpacking in my dorm, I am packing for my year in Ecuador. Tomorrow is not my first day of class, but the day I leave for Fall Training in California, and the start of my Global Citizen Year. After helping my friends move in to college, I initially felt left out, like...
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Hushing the SHOULD’s
Aitran Doan
2013-08-29
“Only 1% of human beings are able to attend college—any college—even the worst one in the remotest area of the world”(100People.org) This statistic haunted me from the very beginning of the college process because I knew college was not my next stop. But what was? I should go to college. I should go for my...
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Seas of Change
Keaton Scanlon
2013-08-26
While this summer has been a beautiful one for me, it has also been a time in my life in which I felt like I was constantly behind. I was behind in my summer work, behind in my language-learning, fundraising and my blog, behind in packing and behind in juggling two jobs, family time, friend...
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