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
Six Months India – Blank Faces and Crowded Classrooms
Levin Stamm
2020-04-15
This blog was originally published in German on tize.ch as part of my capstone project – you can read it here. Hundreds of children in uniform stand on a gravel field in front of a dreary concrete block and sing the Indian national anthem. They are pupils of a public school in the midst of...
Read MoreI am struggling with the fact that am not, anymore…
Deepa Gayadin
2020-04-14
You learn from the past, how your present was shaped to decide your future. If this is true then, I am and have to, compare my life now and then. People come and go, memories are made and fade, rain followed by rainbows, clouds to storm… but one thing does not change- my relationship with...
Read MoreBe aware of your priviledge and see what you can do with it? sure….
Deepa Gayadin
2020-04-14
We talked so much about it but we never really, we talked to the point of judging rather than understanding. Being privileged became you worked less hard than me Being less privileged meant its not your fault Being privileged became you have to fix the world Being less privileged meant I should show empathy I...
Read MoreIf my soul was a balloon…
Deepa Gayadin
2020-04-14
If my soul was a balloon, it could have been made by one artist or three, depends on what I'd like to believe. And like every balloon in the bunch, tied to a string I'll go where I am taken and tied. If my soul was a balloon I'd wish to have thicker and more...
Read MoreTaller
Lara Solis
2020-04-13
“Entonces pienso en los míos… Por qué los habré dejado? Y, qué busco yo tan lejos de ellos?” “And so I think of my own… Why did I leave them? And, what am I looking for so far from them?” About two weeks after I returned to Costa Rica and to my family home, my...
Read MoreBecoming a Niece
Celia Morton
2020-04-04
This year I learned that language isn’t necessary for connection. I ended up coming to a host family which spoke perfect English, but I couldn’t wrap my head around why we didn’t connect. It took me seven months to realize that I still don’t know. Eventually, I found a loop-hole in that I didn’t need...
Read MoreAdvice to Future Fellows
Amelia Joss
2020-04-03
The past seven months in Ecuador taught me a lot. If I could go back in time to August and give advice to myself, this is what I would say. Advice for Future Fellows: Ecuador is so much colder than you think it is. Bring sweaters and warm socks. Also bring things to do. Bring...
Read Morehome.
Drew Erickson
2020-03-30
Home. Since August, home meant Senegal. It was not where my family or friends lived, it was not where I grew up, but I quickly had to learn to call it home. My room had to become my sanctuary, the office had to become my place of productivity, and the people there had to...
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24 hours to leave Ecuador
Annika Kapp
2020-03-30
I’m sitting at my gate at Guayaquil airport, trying to eat my breakfast. In a state of exhaustion and mindless hunger, I made the unfortunate choice to buy a cinnamon roll. It’s hot and delicious, but also completely drenched in a sticky chocolate sauce. I don’t have any cutlery, and even though the nice man...
Read MoreSinging To My Rickshaw Drivers
Lily Turner
2020-03-27
March 11th, 2020 “There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.” – Khalil Gibran In early December, I was very happy. My school routine fell into place and felt fulfilling, I had found some of my best friends, I loved my host family, and I felt like I was really...
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What I Want To Remember
Sadie Price-Elliott
2020-03-21
How was your trip? Let me tell you. Let me tell you how the sun never failed to rise at 6 AM and descend behind the Andes mountains precisely twelve hours after. About the incredible view of the sunset from the small, wooden table outside of the restaurant. How I watched it almost every day,...
Read MoreThe beach
Anupama Sanjith
2020-03-17
I like the beach I like sandy beaches, stony ones….. I like the one in front of my house in Brazil…. I like beaches that don’t face the open sea but something called a “mar fechado” which means closed sea in Portuguese. I like how cold the water is sometimes but also how pleasant that...
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