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
Live From The Field
Sundhya Alter
2019-03-21
[image: IMG_3154.JPG] Aji is something that I am going to miss. I am going to miss its spicy tanginess that always hits right where it’s supposed to. When I think of aji I think of my abuelas smile as she peels potatoes in the kitchen, or my host brothers laugh, or even the long bus...
Read MoreA Day in the Fields of an Environmental Movement
Grace Partridge
2019-03-21
My internship at Vibrant Village Foundation provides me with many unique opportunities to learn about environmental conservation, including the chance to witness action on the forefront of the agro-ecology movement in Ecuador. Yesterday, what started as simple office work turned into a field trip to farmers’ markets, an organic *almuerzo (lunch)* restaurant, and the chance...
Read MoreWet Paint
Laura Harvey
2019-03-21
I was settling into painting in the warehouse on the botanical gardens of Floripa when the percussive introduction of a very specific song began to ring out of my phone’s tiny speaker. “Magalenha” by Sergio Mendes. A little random, I know – I’d recommend a listen though. I love painting because it completely focuses one...
Read MoreEsencia
Natalia Rijo
2019-03-20
I decided to buy a guitar to learn it how to play it during my time here in Ecuador. It was the best decision I have made so far, and after feeling more confident at it I started writing and composing songs. The last song is called Esencia, and I composed it after realizing how...
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The “why” I was looking for
Ida Nydelius
2019-03-20
With this post, I aim to tell you 2 things – that taking a gap year changed the way I look at education, and my next step in life. To begin with, my volunteer work is at a public elementary school Since the start, I have been without any fixed work tasks instead free to...
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Ambivalent
Katarina Guillot
2019-03-20
Ambivalent is the perfect word, to sum up, my feelings about only having two more weeks in Ecuador. According to Merriam-Webster ambivalent means “having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something” and ambivalence suggests “movement in two directions at once and hence a wavering uncertainty.” When people ask me how I feel about going back...
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Coincidences
Jack Swartzentruber
2019-03-20
[image: f793543d-319c-4b49-9900-11480ddb6ab2 (1).JPG] Sometimes, life presents us with coincidences and connections that almost seem unbelievable. At the beginning of my time in India, my host mom told me that she was going to take a three-week trip to the United States and Canada, both to see family and for work purposes (she works for an...
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My mom, a culture of her own
Ariella Brodie-Weisberg
2019-03-19
The way I am Debora’s daughter is nothing like I am my mother’s daughter. In California I am the daughter of a woman who has seen me develop since birth, who can pull memories like tarot cards that explain the confusions I often bring to her. I’m an intense kid, she’s an intense woman. She...
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Tips for Future Fellows
Anna Sophie Tinneny
2019-03-13
#1- Get comfortable talking about your bowel movements. Even the shiest Fellows in my cohort broke by week four, discussing their gastrointestinal issues at length. The worst part of all of this isn’t even that you’re hearing about other people’s poop. The worst part is that you’re genuinely interested in hearing about other people’s poop....
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