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
Green Thumbs Up
Laura Keaton
2010-04-02
In November, I came up with the idea to start a “square-foot garden” in one of my schools with the help of the mothers group. I thought it would be a good idea because the school gathers donations of vegetables every week to give them and the garden would be a simple and self-sustained way...
Read More“LIVE” TV
Laura Keaton
2010-04-02
Dear Mrs. Rasnick, Do you remember my peculiar Drama I class? You said it was peculiar because for the most part our class was not in Drama because we wanted to learn about the origins of theater, Thespes and the like. We were in Drama because we wanted to play games. I am writing today...
Read MoreFamily Resemblance
Laura Keaton
2010-04-02
“Canche! Que bonita su hija Fina!” Fina and I are standing outside the tortilleria, my absolute favorite spot in Santo Tomas. The woman speaking has coarse gray hair and dark wrinkled skin. I might say she is in her mid 70s judging by her looks but she’s probably around 60, and her agility reinforces that...
Read MoreBalla Gaye vs. Modou Lo
Alec Yeh
2010-04-01
Senegalese wrestling is a long-standing tradition. In fact, it’s not really “Senegalese.” It’s more African as a whole. But it’s their national sport, and everybody here loves it. Everybody. Even the old ladies. Including Fanta. She loves wrestling apparently, and I find that really hilarious. I can just imagine her getting really into it. But...
Read MoreNext on Mythbusters: Green Card Lottery?
Alec Yeh
2010-04-01
The green card lottery: myth or truth? They could put that on Mythbusters. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s been long said that the US holds a green card lottery. But whether that is true, many people don’t know. Since it’s not like a prize that they announce the winners of each...
Read MoreKnowledge is Power
Alec Yeh
2010-04-01
I’ve begun teaching Oule’ye French. It’s a little peculiar that I would be teaching her French considering how angry and upset I get teaching Muhammad French. And it’s also peculiar that I would be teaching French at all since I’m terrible at it. But, then again, Oule’ye has never had a formal education, and she...
Read MoreDiverging Personalities
Hilary Brown
2010-04-01
Round, giggly, and full of life, my host mother is a real character. Her two daughters describe her as cheerful and kind to everyone. While this is true, figuring out how to spend so much time with her without, frankly, going crazy has been very difficult and involved much frustration for me. As the woman...
Read MoreAppropriate Transportation
Michael Wilson
2010-03-23
How people move around is one of the most vital pieces of information that defines a community. I hadn’t thought about this before until I traveled through Arizona on a publicity excursion for an eye glasses campaign we will hold there on Saturday. Arizona is a small town in the Municipal of Puerto San Jose,...
Read MoreLazy Sunday
Laura Keaton
2010-03-23
It’s Sunday afternoon, and Fina and I are walking up the street toward her sister Gloria’s house in Magdalena, the next town over. We decided to get out of the house because we were bored. The street is angled upward and it seems that it disappears into thin air at the top where Gloria’s flowers...
Read MoreResponding to Kristof
Gaya Morris
2010-03-22
It has been very exciting for me to read through Nicholas Kristof’s Teach for the World article in the New York Times and the various responses that have followed it considering that I am kind of doing exactly what he is proposing. Or almost, since I will only have spent six months as a volunteer...
Read MoreDear Prospective Fellow
Gaya Morris
2010-03-22
Dear prospective Fellow, It’s getting late here in Sebikotane, Senegal – the chatter of children out in the schoolyard is starting to dwindle, the loudspeakers are about to break out with the evening call to prayer, and a cool breeze has finally started to trickle into the computer lab, lightening the lingering midday heat. I...
Read MoreOpen letter to GCY Applicant
Ananda Day
2010-03-22
Dear You, Person reading this, maybe even GCY applicant, Hows life ? Whenever my friends and I talk that’s where we start. Last year at this time, life was centered around school , soccer, and figuring out college . The thought of a gap year started when I was applying for scholarships, and the ones that excited me...
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