Fellow Stories

Looking Back, Thinking Forward

Allison Douma

2016-01-09

Sometimes I like to think back to what I was doing this time a year ago. This time last year I was starting my second semester of my senior year and gearing up for a rocky college process, that would leave me hopeless with dwindling confidence. After I got told I wasn’t good enough to...

Eat the Cake

Talia Bailes

2015-12-17

Each day here I am being challenged to fully live in the moment. Part of living in the moment for me is embracing the amazing rivers here in the Amazon. Going to the river is a weekly event that I treasure. But how do the gorgeous rivers in the Amazon relate to eating cake? Listen...

I love teaching

Noah Hapke

2015-12-16

When I came to Oakland (over 4 months ago) I knew I wanted to teach. Of course, my understanding of what teaching abroad actually meant was very limited, considering I had practically no teaching experience as well as zero knowledge of how to communicate in Spanish. All I knew was that I wanted to teach....

Happy Moments/LGBTQ/Host Family/ Music

Deonte' Lee

2015-12-15

Learning to Find Peace

Maya Panicker

2015-12-09

So, I used to know this girl named Maya. She was nice. She cared. But she worried all the time about what people thought of her. She compared herself to others and never believed she was spectacular or even enough. Her life was a constant competition with her peers and herself. Thoughts on what to...

A Letter to My Host Mom

Maria Morava

2015-12-07

 To my host mom who only speaks Wolof – a language I don’t yet. Here are some things I wanted to say in those early days spent in silence. Sama yaay, I still don’t know what to call you. Even beginning this letter I’m not sure how to address it. In my time here you...

Permanent

Tatiana Calonje

2015-12-07

When a needle drags upon our skin and bleeds ink, it’s a tattoo. When I showed up at the Mumbai Airport, there was some sort of eye contact and mutual understanding I made with the promise of what was ahead. There still isn’t a name for this, some call it brave. Some call it incredible,...

Other

Elizabeth Schubert

2015-12-06

I recently received an email from the high school I graduated from requesting me to fill out a post-graduation survey.  It contained this question: What is your current work/school status?     o   Full time employment     o   Part time employment only     o   Part time enrollment at a post-secondary institution (2yr, 4yr, Certificate Based Program) AND employed     o  ...

Stop being satisfied with one single story.

Chantal Tonnessen Smeland

2015-12-04

When I left my home country I told myself that I would approach this experience and challenge with open arms- no limitations. No expectations, no biases. I would let the mind free, be a sponge to everything India has to offer me. And then I actually started living here. A part of the programme is...