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
Re-thinking “Poverty”
Jordan Ricker
2013-02-11
I have now spent over one hundred and fifty straight days in Senegal, a country that the World Bank defines as “developing.”* That’s quite a change from spending the last eighteen years of my life having only lived in or visited “developed countries.” Passing this hundred and fifty days mark, I have also passed the...
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Here she is a girl… In America, she is a woman
Alison Rivera
2013-02-11
“The randomness of where we are born and how much that determines who we become” – Blue Sweater p. 33 Popularly quoted as “Life is a box of chocolates.” Just six words…but they resonate so much with women’s social status in Senegal. At training seminar 2, myself and three other fellows held a discussion on...
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Xaliis bii
Alison Rivera
2013-02-11
The kids call me money “xaliis,” “l’argent.” They pull literally my skirt but figuratively my head out of the clouds for America isn’t a hero here but more of an arrogant exhibitionist. I thought all “Toubabs” were viewed the same until I met an old French man. Being a good host to his model wife’s...
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On Moving
Meg Crenshaw
2013-02-05
I changed host families a couple of weeks ago. Although my new family members–and new house–are only about ten yards away, I still had to go through the process of packing up and moving. And as I pulled apart every single thing in my room, I started feeling exactly like George Banks in Father of...
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If She Had Only Known
Betty Gebre
2013-02-05
As a younger girl she watched telenovelas because that was what her mother and her older sister always watched. When she saw half-naked models in the newspapers, billboards, and on her father’s motorcycle she would stop to stare and idolize for that was what everyone did. When she was thirteen years old puberty had come. She was no longer considered a girl,...
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Senegal and Korea: We Are the One!
Jay Choi
2013-02-04
There is a proverb in South Korea: “The smallest pepper is the hottest.” Despite its small size, South Korea is one of the “hottest” nations in the world. Home of multinational companies like Samsung, LG, and Hyundai, it is a leading producer of semi-conductors, flat screen TVs, cars, and ships which drive the 13th largest economy...
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The Right Mix
Benito Aranda-Comer
2013-01-30
Finding the right equilibrium between realism and idealism has been my most intriguing and difficult experience here in Brazil. Every day I am faced with choices of how to prioritize my time, who to invest in relationships with, and where to think critically about that which I’ve experienced. For the most part there is a clear-cut ‘right choice’ and...
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Growing Up: The Circle of Life
Christopher LaBorde
2013-01-28
“From the day we arrive on this planet,and blinking step into the sun, there’s more to see than can ever be seen, more to do, than can ever be done. There’s far too much to take in here, more to find than can ever be found, But the sun rolling high, through the sapphire sky, keeps great and small on the...
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Thank The Garbage Worker
Aidan Holloway-Bidwell
2013-01-28
The next time he rolls by in his big, loud, clanky truck, thank the garbage worker. If there is one bit of advice I can give you as a result of my experience here in Ecuador that would be it. You don’t need to sound overly sincere, certainly not sarcastic, just say a simple “thank...
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