“On a normal day, after a delicious Indian breakfast, my
host’s siblings and I would ride the bus to school. There, we learned Indian dance, art, cooking and many other aspects of the culture,” says 16-year-old Genna Alperin, who traveled to India with Greenheart Travel in 2014 (
GreenheartTravel.org). “I learned how to communicate, share my lunch and be a good friend. When I returned, I wanted to be like the amaz- ing people I had met.” The Chicago organization facilitates language camps, service trips and study abroad programs for high school students.
Learn to Speak Like a Local
Immersion can be both the fastest and most fun way to learn a language. Language study abroad programs steep students in foreign tongues in memorable settings that help accelerate learning, whether practicing Spanish in the coffee-growing highlands of Costa Rica or Mandarin in China’s bustling city of Beijing. Many programs place students with host families where
they can practice the language informally and deepen their un- derstanding of local idioms, complementing classroom lessons from native teachers. Homestays also offer students an insider’s view of the regional culture, from cuisine to family life. Stu- dents can elect to learn an entirely new language with no prior exposure or build on beginner-level proficiency. Some programs even enable high school students to earn college credits.
Study Earth’s Underwater Vastness
Action Quest, in Sarasota, Florida, takes teens on seafaring voyages from the Florida Keys to the Caribbean, where they can learn to sail or scuba dive, study marine life and engage in projects to help restore coral reefs and protect sea turtle habitats (
ActionQuest.com). Participants gain a deeper ap- preciation for the ocean’s fragile and complex ecosystems and knowledge of winds and tides. Acting as crew members, teens also learn teamwork and confidence-building skills.
Explore Careers as an Intern
Internships offer teens a chance to test potential career paths, gain resume-worthy work experience and strengthen college applications. While many internships target college students, an increasing number are open to high school students with companies, nonprofit organizations and gov- ernment agencies nationwide and abroad. Fields can range from accounting, law and engineering to nonprofit work. AIESEC (
aiesec.org), an international, student-run organiza- tion headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands, works with partners ranging from multinational companies to local nonprofits to offer opportunities in 126 countries for youths interested in interning abroad.
Serve Community, Discover Culture
Whether headed to a destination in Africa, Asia or the Americas, community service trips help teens gain enlight- ened perspectives and become responsible global citizens. Students can volunteer to teach English, build wells, restore historic sites or rebuild homes destroyed by natural disas- ters. Most service trips also include fun outings and options for learning about the host culture, such as learning tradi- tional African dance or Thai cooking, or hiking the Inca Trail to the sacred site of Machu Picchu. Witnessing the challenges faced by developing com- munities to access basic needs like clean water and health care can be transformative. Being a small part of a solu- tion can awaken young people to their power to change the world.
Helpful clearinghouse sites for teen travel programs include
TeenInk.com/summer and
TransitionsAbroad.com/listings/ study/teen.
Connect with freelance writer April Thompson at
AprilWrites.com.
natural awakenings
March 2015
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