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
Dream Come True
Julia Carter
2012-07-10
I first heard about Global Citizen Year during my sophomore year of high school. My older brother discovered the program and thought the mission of the program was both important and unique; something his sister would thrive in. Being only a sophomore, the thought of taking a year off from college did not seem like...
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Sat Nam
Emily Collins
2012-07-10
Sat Nam; Truth is my identity. A yogi mantra that I discovered in my first session of yoga 5 years ago, unaware of how much value it would hold to me in the future. I have always been one to question the way the world works. Why does society hold certain expectations and how have...
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The Beginning of a New Me
Meliza Windmoeller
2012-07-10
Hi everyone, I’m Liza Windmoeller and like almost everyone else I’m 18 and a recent graduate. I am from northern Wisconsin, a very small town called Phillips. Our population is barely 2,000 and our ethnic diversity is sorely lacking. But needless to say it is the place I call home. I sat here for a...
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Looking Ahead
Lydia Collins
2012-07-10
The first thing I remember was the graffiti. Stucco buildings had drawings and words scrawled across their whitewashed walls. Stray dogs sulked past windows with metal grates, scavenging for dinner. The arid air was thick with cigarette fumes and exhaust from passing mopeds. Strangely dressed teenagers passed around suspicious looking bottles, laughing and smoking. I...
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Marching Into An Unknown World
Allie Wallace
2012-07-10
“After much anticipation, we hope you will be excited learn that you will be spending your Global Citizen Year in Senegal!” As these words sunk into my head, a memory surfaced amongst waves of excitement and nervous energy. The memory is that of an event which seemed insignificant at the time. It was a typical...
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Life’s Highway
Jennifer Ostrowski
2012-07-10
As a child, I became very well acquainted with the 242 miles of Wisconsin highway stretching between my grandparents’ house and my own. For as long as I can remember, my brother and I would count down the miles to Grandma’s molasses cookies and Grandpa’s homegrown vegetables from the back seat of our Dodge Caravan....
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My Unconventional Path
Fikrte Abebe
2012-07-10
My name is Fikrte Abebe, I am from Ethiopia and came to the United States at the age of eight. One of the main reasons my parents wanted to move to the United States was because they wanted a better educational opportunity for their children. Therefore, taking a year off school was out of the...
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Something New
Daniel Schwarz
2012-07-10
Hello all. My name is Daniel Schwarz, born and raised in the Philadelphia area. I got my primary education in a town called Havertown. I went to Oakmont Elementary, which is sadly no longer a school today. I then attended Haverford Middle School. My next and last institution was Haverford Senior High School; this is...
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What’s Your Story
Ava Hoffman
2012-07-10
In my senior year Existentialism class, my teacher, Ms. Workman, introduced me to the existential extraordinaire Albert Camus. In The Plague, set in the French-settled town of Oran, Algeria, Camus describes a scene in which the main character, Dr. Rieux, and his friend, Tarrou, momentarily escape the plague-stricken town for a breath of fresh air...
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