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
Until we meet again..
Elizabeth O'Malley
2014-08-01
As I form a list of what to pack for this grand adventure, I think of which shoes I’d like to wear in this new place, or if I’ll need a particular outfit. How do I choose between favorite sweatshirts? Of course, my answer is to bring the lightest ones. But, this sense of reality...
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Venturing Off the Grid
Rachel Swartz
2014-08-01
My Mother and I are currently stuck at Kansas International Airport on our way back home to Seattle. At this point we’ve been waiting for 2 hours due to “Tornado Warnings in Denver” whatever that means… I’ve always enjoyed sitting in Airports, there is something special about people-watching when you travel. Perhaps because we are...
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Where It All Begins – Communicating
Kyra Halpenny
2014-08-01
July 31, 2014 – Elko, NV, United States For as long as I can remember I have been a traveler. For the last week my papa and I have been making the trek from Saskatoon, Canada to Fremont, California. Before that I drove the west coast to British Columbia, and that is just what I...
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Why?
Elston Tortuga
2014-08-01
I’ve been avoiding the task of fleshing out an answer to the question of why I decided to put off college for a year in favor of living in Senegal for eight months. Sure, I’ve formulated my logical reasoning – I’m craving an adventure, I require a new perspective in order to justify the hefty...
Read More Ready As I’ll Ever Be
Cassidy Nelson
2014-08-01
“Are you ready?” seems to be the unavoidable question these days. Implying of course, am I ready to: move to a completely foreign developing country, join a new family, leave behind everything I’ve ever known, and acquire a new language from scratch. So the simple answer is, “absolutely not.” As of now, I have never...
Read More Distances and Connections
Irie Ewers
2014-07-31
“I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life –and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” –Georgia O’Keeffe The funny thing about physical distances is that you would assume they make emotional distances greater. Now that summer is winding down, most solitary moments really have...
Read More Rivers and Roads
Briana Merrigan
2014-07-31
“A year from now, we’ll all be gone, all our friends will move away,” As I sang these words at my graduation party surrounded by lifelong friends, I felt something coming to an end. Not the end of friendships, but the end of this stage in life. We are all inevitably pushed and pulled in...
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Changing The World
Bennett Quintard
2014-07-31
Over the next eight months I will do many things. I will eat new foods, create new relationships, become more self sufficient, see amazing sights, laugh, cry, and grow. But there is one thing that I most definitely will not do. I will not change the world. I know this is more then a little confusing for...
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Canvases Painted with Tears
Paulina Jedrzejowski
2014-07-31
In three weeks I will be leaving for an adventure of a lifetime – Brazil. I have always dreamed about going to Brazil but I never thought I would be going there for eight months with a leadership development organization… Today I was reading through quotes as I do when I am bored or when...
Read More Anticipation
Ava Rofougaran
2014-07-31
I feed off new cultures. I have always been enraptured by the ways people live in other parts of the world. It may seem odd, but when I was little, I begged my parents to send me abroad for the summer. During my travels, I had no homesickness, no separation anxiety, no fear of unfamiliarity—just...
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Mangi Fi Rekk
Rachel Schrattenholzer
2014-07-30
In Wolof, “How are you?” is said “Nanga def?” which literally means “Where are you?”. The usual response to this is “Mangi fi rekk.” which means, “I am here.” By saying “I am here,” you are saying that you are alive, and that is something to be grateful for. “I am here” and that in...
Read More Living My Dream
Hannah Phalen
2014-07-30
“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey It has always been a top priority of mine to see the world. I grew up being taught that you need to make sacrifices, but anything you want to do is somehow possible. I didn’t grow up...
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