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
October in Threes
Alisa Nelson
2014-11-03
Describing my last month in segments of three. 3 THINGS I DO EVERDAY Drink Coffee. I hate coffee. More accurately, I hated it. I drink it every morning at breakfast, and while my favorite part is still the powdered milk that clumps at the bottom, I’m getting used to it. Measure the Wind Speed and...
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Meet the Family
Elston Tortuga
2014-11-03
My immediate family consists of my mom, Sokhna Deme, president of the Ngueniene Women’s Association, a woman unable to have her own children, a woman married to a slowly dying man 30 years her senior, who lives an hour away with his first wife and children; she is a strong, noble woman, a woman who...
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A Love Letter to Ataya
Alice Brower
2014-11-03
My first day in Senegal, I sat with my knees close to my chest, leaning against a concrete wall, while warily eyeing my new Senegalese host brother as he lounged on a mat and invited me to join him. A lanky twenty-something approached us, placed an old rusty black stove on the ground along with...
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Connecting, Among Other Things
Sarah Richmond
2014-10-30
**Written September 18th, delayed posting due to technical difficulties** While discussing our plans for the upcoming weekend with my host sister, I mentioned how sad it was that I would be leaving their family soon. She looked at me and smiled wistfully, shook her head and said, “Three weeks is not a very long time...
Read MorePersonal Mission Statement
Ian Frank
2014-10-28
Begin with the end in mind; each experience will shift that into perspective. Expect that you will not understand, ask questions, and seek the counsel of others for assistance. I am a meager captain steering this expedition in uncharted waters. The current has cut veins in the earth so deep, I can’t change or manipulate...
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First Impressions
Irie Ewers
2014-10-28
Take a moment to reflect about Ecuador. What do you know about this “developing” country? What images start circulating in your mind? Do you picture an immense Amazon filled with emerald trees and buzzing insects of iridescent colors? Maybe you visualize the prominent Galapagos Islands where Charles Darwin first broached the topic of evolution using...
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Dear Applicant (The Veil Lifted)
Bennett Quintard
2014-10-28
Dear Applicant, As you make your way through the grueling Global Citizen Year application process, I’m sure you are faced with many questions. One of the biggest questions you might be asking yourself is, What will it be like? Everyone you talk to will have something to say about this question, whether they be your...
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Baby Soy
Yui Lee
2014-10-28
When I came to Guano, Ecuador a month ago and met my Ecuadorian family for the first time, I was overjoyed to see a baby in my host mother’s arms; the newborn looked so happy, adorable, and chubby. I learned that her name was Soy, she was six months old, and today, she is as...
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Sigue No Más
Samantha Srok
2014-10-23
I literally cannot focus in class because I am so angry. Why would you not have a comprehensive bus schedule easily available online or in places people can read? Why would the same bus I’ve used every day suddenly take me to the Rio Coca station?! Who would make this transportation system so unclear? This...
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