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
I wrote a journal…
Fernanda Tornell
2017-05-18
Its over! I am back from Brazil… Throughout my time there I decided to write a journal, I have never kept a journal or a diary before but since this experience was so unique and GCY encouraged it a lot I decided to try and write one. I did not religiously write every night before...
Read MoreWhere I’m Supposed To Be
Makenzie Leigh Meacham
2017-05-15
When you’ve been living on a tropical island for 8 months, playing with otters and eating cake every day, it’s difficult to get back into the swing of things when you return home. Right now I’m missing the torrents of rain, and eyeing the sparse dark clouds in the Arizona sky, daring them to give...
Read MoreAdvice for your gap year, from someone who’s been there
Sebastian Paine
2017-05-11
There is, by definition, (or perhaps more accurately, by intrinsic nature) no “right” way to experience your bridge year. It’s an intensely personal period of growth, learning, and challenge that my words can in no way instruct you on or prepare you for. No two people will have the same experience. This blog relates particularly...
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Trying To Find The Right Words
Caroline Montag
2017-05-09
It was challenging but great! I lived with a lovely host family, had two host brothers and awesome host aunts, struggled at first with Spanish, worked in a school as a co-teacher, tutored kids in a women’s shelter, my closest Ecuadorian friends were probably the teachers, I loved the diversity of the country and...
Read MoreSkating, Songs, and Salchipapas: A few of the things I am currently missing about Ecuador (in no particular order)
Sophia Pandelidis
2017-05-04
Sometimes you can't help getting a little sentimental… “El Lobo” I’m pretty sure my three-year-old sister, Sami, always had a boatload of energy at the exact hour when I was ready to take a nap. However, I never failed to respond to her plea of, “Topi, vamos a jugar!”, or, “Sofi, let’s go play!” Her...
Read MoreLos Pancitos
Aden Fischer-Brown
2017-04-27
Every Sunday morning during most of my time in my town of Bella Union, I would walk a small 50 foot stretch from my house to enter a bakery. There I’d find my host uncle, David, rolling out dough and covered in flour while a playlist of Spanish love ballads, Backstreet Boys and soccer highlight...
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Meal Time
Sidney Stevens
2017-04-01
Food, a central component of social and family life in Senegal, has been one of the significant features of my immersion experience. It’s no coincidence that the little Wolof I know consists of basic greetings and the phrase suurna – “I’m full”. Most social interactions center around or culminate with a meal or a round...
Read MoreThe Real Value of My Bridge Year: Understanding the Value of Family
Phoebe Park
2017-04-01
As a foreigner coming into a small community, its difficult, isolating, and lonely. My Spanish was weak, my Korean features drew curious yet detached stares, and my fashion choices marked me as an outsider. I remember thinking by the end of the first month, why am I here? I don’t belong. Especially going to the...
Read MoreCarnival in Cuenca Ecuador 2017
Savier Morales
2017-04-01
February 23, 2017, A little update on Carnival. In The central square of Cuenca, many Ecuadorian friends and families gathered to Celebrate. Many had a can of party foam, and a gleeful smile that only meant trouble. There was a band playing, people covered in foam and the firemen spraying the crowd with water. It...
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