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
Prologue
Myriam Sitterson
2014-07-30
I believe that one of the greatest skills an artist possesses is his or her ability to make a flat surface look three-dimensional. It’s incredible, really. Right now, my knowledge of the world is largely two-dimensional. A lot of the time, I feel ignorant, shut-off, naive. Like I’ve grown up inside a box. A box...
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Planet Waves
Kamilah Udomsap
2014-07-30
While the looming shadow of an empty piggy bank haunts my dreams, it is accompanied by thoughts of a new world, a divergent culture, and a breath of air that I’m unaccustomed to. Upon being accepted into the blessing that is Global Citizen Year, I’ve already gotten a new lease on life, but it’s come...
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Five Thousand Mile Bridge
Nicholas Chieng
2014-07-30
Hello! My name is Nick Chieng; I am 18 years old and a graduate of Franklin High School’s class of 2014. “Half of the time I couldn’t understand what he was saying because he spoke with a thick accent, but immersed in the moment of it all, that didn’t even matter. There I was walking the...
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Leaving my Reverie
Samantha Srok
2014-07-30
For the past 26 days that I have been out of school, 21 have been spent working at Camp Alice Chester as K/PA (Kitchen/Program Assistant). I’ve been going to camp since I was seven and especially since I started my volunteer year there, 2 years ago, it’s been a key part of my life. It’s...
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Life as we know it
Lindsay Saligman
2014-07-30
A few weeks ago, as we walked across our high school’s parking lot, a friend of mine turned to me and said soberly “this is the end of life as we know it.” The first thing that came to my mind upon hearing this was the first thing that always comes to my mind upon...
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Just Getting Started
Grace Mannix
2014-07-30
Maybe not going to college right after graduating high school makes you nervous. Maybe you can only afford it with monetary help. Maybe there are requirements you aren’t sure you can meet. Maybe all of the vaccinations you have to get, especially for diseases you haven’t even heard of, are a little intimidating. Perhaps you’re...
Read More The Beginning
Eustacia Meyer
2014-07-30
Hello, my name is Eustacia Meyer, but most people call me Staci. I was born in Iowa and have lived in Ohio for most of my life. I have never really had the chance to leave the Midwest, so taking a bridge year in a foreign country was a shock to most of my family....
Read More Mixed Faces
Danielle Spencer
2014-07-30
When people ask me the obvious, just graduated High School, question “so where are your going to school next year?” I can never help but to laugh and just blurt out “Africa” and watch the looks on people’s faces. I have gotten so many mixed reviews and mixed faces from my questioners. There are those,...
Read More A Whole New World
Hadiyah Grubish
2014-07-30
Hey y’all! First off, I cannot believe that this bridge year is actually happening for me. As my departure date grows nearer, I can’t help but to feel scared, excited, and nervous all at the same time. This is something completely new and different. I’m not sure how to prepare myself for exactly how big...
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Six Degrees of Separation
Juno Fullerton
2014-07-30
The “Six degrees of separation” theory is pretty simple. Originated by Frigyes Karinthy in the late 1920s, it suggests that every person on this earth is six or fewer steps away from another person. It suggests that no matter how far apart two people are in the world, it will take a maximum of six steps,...
Read More Starting the Journey
Kali Nelson
2014-07-30
I have always known adventure, and have always gone out looking for it. The need to explore and see things for myself is one of the strongest forces guiding my way. I always loved getting outside and climbing a tree just to see the rest of the world around me. My junior year of high...
Read More Oh how the time flies by…
Lucas Weber
2014-07-29
It seems like everything is happening at once. From trying to figure out how to navigate through my High School freshman year, to figuring out the layout Hunter College in senior year, where I took college classes, to grabbing my diploma in front of family and friends. Looking back, everything seems like a blur, but...
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