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
Finding Joy
Natalie Glick
2018-10-09
“Comparison is the thief of joy”. We have all heard the saying before. Wether seeing it on a motivational poster in a classroom, or having someone tell it to us; it’s well known. I have heard it many times before with a passing ear. For maybe two minutes it would have an impact but then...
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“Desaprender lo que creo haber aprendido”: musings of a guatemalteca in Senegal
Phoebe Shea Perez
2018-10-08
After five weeks of living in Touba Toul, I’m proud to say that even though kids in the streets tirelessly still call me toubab (Wolof for westerner), my family consistently mentions I’m becoming Senegalese. Two Fridays ago, at my cousin’s wedding in Doudoul, when we had finished cooking a colossal amount of beñe (1) and...
Read MoreWhat ‘Privilege’ Means
Surabhee Arjunwadkar
2018-10-07
It is difficult to accept your privilege. Privilege is something I thought I didn’t have, something that only ‘rich’ people had. That is until I came to Ecuador. Somewhere in my mind, the word privilege had gained a negative connotation, that growing up privileged somehow made you ignorant and unaware of things. In this journey...
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Me Llamo Anita Lechón
Anna Sophie Tinneny
2018-10-07
I listen to the mayor of Cayambe discuss the idea of dualism in Kayambi culture. “In order for the world to work,” he explains, “Balance is necessary. The sun needs the moon. The masculine needs the feminine. The rainy season needs the dry season.” In the Kayambi tradition, the universe is united through polar opposites....
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It’s the way I’m living
Bihotza James-Lejarcegui
2018-10-06
It’s the freeing moment of slipping into my jacket and stepping foot outdoors, determination in my wandering footsteps and pressure against my chest as I struggle to breathe in the 10,400 ft altitude. It’s the way the clouds surround the rooftops and nestle themselves into the mountains, like a dress fitting around a woman’s curves,...
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Little birthday wish
Salome-Valdivieso
2018-10-06
(View from my house 05/10/2018 evening) A strong feeling of homesickness comes to my 19th birthday here in Senegal. Nostalgia fills me when I remember all my friends and family members in my 16th and last birthday in Ecuador. Nostalgia comes to my heart when I remember my last two birthdays; by the fjord, in...
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London Samson
2018-10-05
I’d say it’s easy to fall in love with a place when the sun sneaks into your room through thin metal shutters at 7 am and the birds accompany it in song. When your instant coffee and breakfast baguette pair well with staring off into the sky carelessly. When walking down the street has become...
Read MoreExpectation V. Need
Giselle Esquer
2018-10-04
August 31, 2018 Global Launch was not what I expected but it was definitely something I needed. I’ve flipped through all the pages in my notebook at Global Launch and I see a pattern. Every inspiration wrote or idea I wrote down has to do with self reflection and expectations. What is it that I’m...
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Back to School…
Gema Benavides Jimenez
2018-10-03
At all times, First Days of school are worth remembering. Without a doubt, I’ll say that the one at Sant Tukaram School in Pune has definitely been the most overwhelming of them all. Like in every first day of school, the moment you step a foot in the school, all eyes are on you —...
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