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
Teaching English is Hard
Anh Tu Lu
2016-11-08
When the teacher walked in through the front door, the students in a second level high school English class all stood up, all reciting, “Good morning, sir.” As an observing student-teacher, I, too, do the same. This particular action has reminded me of my elementary education in Vietnam, among many other cultural similarities that are...
Read More9 Times E.T. Described My Life as a Foreigner
Phoebe Park
2016-11-08
I finally brought myself to watch E.T. after years of being too scared to face the wrinkly faced alien. Although the beginning still freaked me out, watching some Steven Spielberg was definitely a great idea. As I was sitting on a bean bag chair in my host family's living room with my youngest sister, I...
Read MoreThe Power of a Language
Maryanne Roughton
2016-11-06
Most of my adventures in Ecuador have been incredible. (Note: being chased by stray dogs in the street is most likely not one of the more incredible ones, but they definitely lead to a funny story.) However, most have been followed by an unavoidable challenge— language barriers. More often than not, I find myself intensely...
Read MoreRosita The Chinita
Rose Hoang
2016-11-03
18 years of 180,000 Vietnamese people in one city. Now, just one here in Ibarra, and it’s me. When I walk down the streets, there’s two things I know I can be sure to find here: a Claro store and a Chifa. Claro is a cell phone company here like Verizon but on steroids. A...
Read MoreTo Those Making the Decision to Go Crazy, Early
Phoebe Park
2016-11-02
Ding! I get a notification to view my Facebook’s On This Day. In an Ecuadorian coffee shop, I open a post from exactly one year ago on October 31. I remember so very clearly the months of bitterness that ensued for the following months. The Chainsmokers, SNBRN, Big Gigantic, and Yacht Club were just some...
Read MoreNew home, new identity
Aden Fischer-Brown
2016-11-01
Ascending the stairs towards their classroom, it’s clear the sixth and seventh graders spot me before I see them. I hear excited shouts of “Profe ya viene!” and “Ingles!” and a group of kids that was loitering outside hurriedly rushes into the room. As I enter, the thirty-plus kids rise and begin to say, “Buenos...
Read MoreEight months in four minutes
Brooke Donner
2016-11-01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCoC5D5488s A sanguine overview of my bridge year in Senegal. For a slightly more honest and raw account, look back at my previous blogs. Peace only.
Read MoreBlog
Henry Duerr
2016-10-29
There are many things I wish I could tell my younger self. The mistakes I could save him from, the triumphs I could coach him to. The wisdom I could impart to him could fill a book. It has. But I’m not sure he would recognize me. I never anticipated becoming the person I am...
Read MoreI am Coumba
Elise Petersen
2016-10-28
This is a day in the life of “Coumba” I wake up around 7:30-8:00am and begin the day by staring aimlessly at my light blue mosquito net until I have to pee so badly I finally get out of bed. I race to the bathroom (and by bathroom I mean the hole in the...
Read More