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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10 Reasons Why This Gap Year is NOT a Trip
Danny DeBare
2018-03-25
“Let’s hang out when you get back from your trip!!!” one friend texted me. Another, “Danny, how’s your trip going?” It happens every so often; someone refers to the seven months I’m spending in Ecuador as a “trip”. While one can assume that they mean no harm, it puts me on edge, even for...
Read MoreRegionl Recconect 3: Survival Style
Mae Reilly
2018-03-24
Throughout this seven months we had regional reconnects with the people in our immediate cohort. Our last one was about two weeks ago, the Garopaba cohort went into the woods with ex-military men to do an overnight survival course. This photo is us heading there and before seeing how intense the course leaders were. After...
Read MoreDías Finales en Ecuador
Allison Vaught
2018-03-21
Días Finales en Ecuador There’s something bittersweet about leaving this beautiful place. My heart breaks thinking about having to say goodbye to my host family who have showed so much patience and love, and who took me in way back in September. Their warmth made me feel comfortable in an uncomfortable (at first) situation. I...
Read MoreReflections Part II: From Spanish to Family
Henry Yeary
2018-03-21
I had plenty to learn from this tight-knit community when I first wandered here, back in September. I felt like I knew the world from short vacations with constant movement, but that’s not genuinely understanding a place. By staying in Ambuquí for several months watching the sun rise and set over the same rooted mountains,...
Read MoreMy [Misnomer] Year
Marissa Emerson
2018-03-21
In some ways, this is exactly what its called – a gap year. In other ways, this is anything but. Yes, there is a gap in time on any written document or record of my organized education. It’ll show a high school graduation year a full digit off from the year I start in college....
Read MoreReflections Part I: Why I Came To Ecuador
Henry Yeary
2018-03-20
Almost all of my life, I’ve felt older than I actually am. I watched my sister and brothers before me grow up and leave the house to explore the world as adults; and, finally, by the time I was a senior in high school there was nothing that I wanted more than to leave the...
Read MoreTLTD Vlogs: Day 1
Marissa Emerson
2018-03-16
The Last 30 Days (Day 1): March 7, 2018 My last 30 days in Ecuador began on March 7, 2018. That day I taught my first class at my apprenticeship by myself, moved into my host grandmother’s (Maria) house, and starting to organize my new room. Memory of the Day: A student...
Read MoreThe Cheeseburger at the End of the Tunnel
Erik Oline
2018-03-15
Bacon, it’s going to have bacon, lots of bacon. And iceberg lettuce, with honey Dijon mustard and a phat pickle on the side. As I write this I have exactly three weeks left in my host family. Every night when I enter the date into my journal I shudder when I write ‘March’. The past...
Read MoreThe Gorée Commercial
Miniya Ali
2018-03-15
“The Door of no Return” stepping foot on the infamous Gorée island is dream many of us who are descendants of slaves. We ponder the action of going back and defying the notion that the spirit of those who where taken and tortured on Gorée could never find their way back. Gorée as well as...
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