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
What is up with Brazil?
Sophie Winter
2017-09-26
As my posts on social media bring on an onslaught of questions about my days, what I am doing in Brazil, why I am taking a gap year, and more. I have realized that I have not disclosed exactly what I am doing living in a foreign world for seven months. No it's not to...
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Sama Kër
Katie Dodge
2017-09-23
There is one paved road that runs through Thienaba. Shops and stands line either side, hoping to entice weary travellers with roasted peanuts or watermelon. Motorcycles weave around the trucks and taxis carrying goods and people from town to town. Every now and then a rickety bus will pull over and cram on another person...
Read MoreSalty Water
Toluwani Roberts
2017-09-23
This blog post is inspired by my tears. I have cried more this week than I can remember crying this whole year. I didn’t cry when I left New York City. I didn’t cry during my week at Stanford or during my week in Quito. I didn’t cry for my mother and my father and...
Read MoreNew Continent, New Family
Erik Oline
2017-09-21
9-18-17 Keur Birima, Senegal. (wrote on the 18th, but uploaded 21st – Limited internet) Last Sunday (10-9) I left the comfort of the Tostan Training Center and headed out to meet my host family for the next seven months. Earlier in the week I had received a small packet about my host family and community...
Read MoreSaved by Sheer Luck
Soraya Waller
2017-09-19
I’ve had a lot of adventures in the past few weeks. Things that make good stories. Things that probably would have made good blog posts. But whenever I sat down to write something up, I realized I wasn’t inspired to share these stories. After two weeks in India, I began to wonder if that was...
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The “W” Curve and Life in Laala Land
Wyatt Foster
2017-09-17
One of the first things you learn at Global Launch is the idea of the W curve. A wavy line that roughly resembles a W is shown a projector and the GCY staff tries to make it clear that in the beginning you will feel great, the top of the curve, aka the honeymoon phase....
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Carrots
Phuong Nguyen
2017-09-11
“No comprehendo.” “No hablo espanol bien.” “Estudio espanol” And silence. Smiles. Smirks? An abundance of shame. The car ride to my host family’s home was unbearable. The welcome to my Quito home was an overestimation of my social skills. Those had expired the moment I set foot away from my cohort. I was loitering in...
Read Moresydney scanlon
Sydney Scanlon
2017-09-09
I stand here as a daughter Young, ripe, and sweet as clementines’ Dripping sticky down your hand I am a sister Calloused as the camels’ back Grown rough to pinches, teases, and taunts A lover Sometimes lapping lightly up the shoreline And other times thrown into a feverous riptide Salty, leaving lips parched...
Read MoreTaking Charge of My Own Learning
Shannon Yang
2017-09-02
“Why are you taking a gap year?” The question would often catch me unprepared, like a storm coming earlier than forecasted. I would often shrug and tell the curious asker that I just needed a little more time, or that I felt burnt out, or that I was young for my grade anyway. Though all...
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