The Young Leader | The Young Leader

April 29, 2016 by The Young Leader

Summer College Programs for High School Students in Europe

If you’ve ever wanted to travel to Europe then GLA’s travel programs are for you.

These experiences can be thought of as summer college programs for high school students, as they’re great for students getting ready to attend college for the first time in the fall or the year after. Just think about setting foot in an unfamiliar place, starting a new journey, and best of all being able to share the experience with others who you meet for the first time in college that few others your age will have had.

To the UK

1. England, Scotland, Wales, and…

If you decide to go to the UK you’ll be able to see lots of destinations crossed off your bucket list! Not only are you going to visit these places, but you’ll also be exposed to the country’s art and culture — Big Ben, Parliament, and the Tower Bridge are just a few places you’ll stop. These places are incredible to see and even better for a selfie or picture to be taken and posted to Instagram!

2. Coasteering, like cliff jumping?

Of course, while you’re sight seeing, there are fun activities planned too. You’ll be coasteering – yes this is a real thing – and so much more. Imagine learning how to fish first hand from a local fisherman too!

3. Help do your part.

While this all sounds like a lot of fun, you’ll also be helping out the local community and making a difference. You’ll be volunteering to help youth who are at risk and learning how London is working to solve issues like food waste and homelessness. By the time you’re done here, you’ll practically have seen the world and know how to make a difference in it.

To Spain

1. Water so clear you won’t see what hits you (except you can)

When in Spain you’ll be able to watch Barcelona’s flamenco dancers and maybe learn a few moves of your own. Then there’s the Mediterranean beach where you can get your tan on or kayak in and see wildlife through the clear waters. But if action is calling your name then bullfighting is for you – or at least touring the stadium.

2. Foodie, artist, linguistic, or…

There are so many opportunities to dive into the Spanish culture. If you’re a foodie then taking a cooking class and learning how to make authentic food is just for you. But if you’re more into art, then walk the streets and see architecture from famous people like Picasso or Gaudi. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to try and learn a new language. Well classes are offered and you can try out your skills at a local marketplace.

3. Leave your mark

Sometimes the best way to make an impact is by listening. In Spain, you’ll focus on service projects helping those in need. Think of making lasting relationship and hearing people’s stories of where they come from and how it all happened.

So what pre-college program will you choose to travel to? The world is yours, so why not see it and make lasting memories in it!

Contributed by Samantha Watkins

March 21, 2016 by The Young Leader

Getting the Most Out of Your First Trip Abroad

For anyone considering traveling abroad, it’s truly an experience you’ll never forget. The things you’ll experience, the hardships you’ll overcome, and the friends you’ll make will last a lifetime. Sure, traveling is not the easiest thing in the world, but if you can manage it, it will change you down to your very core.

My first experience abroad was right out of college. I was young and a bit disillusioned with the prospect of settling into a career, especially since the job market at the time wasn’t so hot. So, I decided to take a year off and head off to Japan.

I spent one year in Osaka, and it was simultaneously the most terrifying and amazing experience of my life. It was my first time ever living away from home (I lived at home while I attended college), so that made it even more of an ordeal. But in a lot of ways struggling through figuring out how to live on my own in a country where I didn’t even really understand the language was the best thing for my confidence and my independence as a person.

For those thinking of spending some time abroad for work, pleasure, or study abroad in the future, here are some things I learned along the way that can help you get the most out of your experience and make sure it’s the best thing you’ll ever do.

Practice the language

If you’re going somewhere where the people don’t speak English, practice the language. One thing that can stress you out is the inability to communicate what you want to people. Even if you’re staying somewhere with English support, the ability to speak a few phrases with locals in their native language will make your trip so much more enjoyable. It helps to get a phrasebook if you want backup!

Go down the road less traveled

Skip the McDonald’s, the Taco Bell, and whatever other fast food places you can eat at back home. Check out the local cuisine. If you’re going to Asia, look for the wet markets and shopping streets and grab yourself some of the amazing street food. Dive into the smallest possible restaurants and have yourself a local meal cooked by someone passionate about food. It can be a bit daunting, but that’s what the phrasebook is for. People are usually way more welcoming than you might think they are. They’re often as interested in you as you are in them. In my experience, people will often try to strike up a conversation just wanting to know where you’re from.

Meet the locals

Find out where the local people hang out and what they do. Chances are it’s not where all the tourists are going. You can make some great friends or at the very least find some people to show you some local specialties.

The best thing you can do for yourself before you’re tied down with responsibility is broaden your horizons with a trip abroad, and you’d be doing yourself a huge disservice if you let your fear and inhibitions hold you back from getting out there and seeing how the people really live. So cast all that doubt aside, muster up some courage, and make your trip the best time of your life.

Contributed by Nick Bartholomew

March 21, 2016 by The Young Leader

Travels Down South

Traveling is not only the gateway to adventure, it is the passport to personal development.

I never had the pleasure (yet) to travel abroad, unless Google maps and reading an assortment of world literature counts (sometimes it does!). However, I have traveled through the vast majority of the United States. One particular trip that lead me to the path of personal development was my first trip to Mississippi. I was about twelve years old and it was my first trip out of my home state of California.

I had never physically met my grandma on my father’s side, but I grew to know her through many phone calls and letters (yes, letters). My father decided it was time for me to see his childhood stomping grounds and to finally put a face to the voice. Talk about a major culture shock. A born-and-raised California girl spending her whole summer down South. Basically, I was trading sun and palm trees for mosquitoes and humidity.

Tunica, Mississippi is a small town thirty minutes from Memphis, Tennessee. Once known as the poverty-stricken “Sugar Ditch Alley,” Tunica is known as a prosperous casino town today.

Open land and a galore of stars scattered across the sky. That was my positive perspective of Tunica. Otherwise, I was not a fan of southern living (especially when it came to the food). I thought I kept my feelings hidden, but you can’t fool the wise.

I remember my grandma telling a neighbor that she knew I was not enjoying myself and I HATED being here. Hated? Hate was too strong of a word to describe how I felt, but that is how she felt. It was at that moment that I decided to change my negative attitude into a positive one.

I started eating the foods that I once found strange and foreign. Big-boned buffalo fish, goat, deer, and other delicacies of the South that turned out to be delicious (this was during my pre-vegertarain days). I began spending more and more time outside exploring the beautiful scenery of Tunica and the surrounding communities. I saw the continuous action found on Beale Street and the uninterrupted movement of the animals and people at the Memphis Zoo. The best part of all during my first time there was I made a friend and confidant, my grandma.

My grandma, Bertha Lee Liddell, and Tunica became a familiar face and place I tremendously enjoyed seeing until the day my grandma died. I haven’t been back since but I do plan to visit again (with an open mind of course.

Take my advice: Embrace the culture. Embracing is the first step to a memorable experience. Close-mindedness will prevent you from seeing what the culture has to offer. Explore all you can and make memories every minute you are there; that is how the fondest memories are created.

Contributed by Courtney Liddell

March 21, 2016 by The Young Leader

What I Learned, What I Know, What I Wish I Had Known: A Trip Abroad

When I started to plan my first trip abroad, I knew true anxiety.

In high school and college, I often dreamed of the opportunity, but my family has always been lower middle class—our annual vacation times were mostly spent enjoying the time off of work, not with the excess amount of green to be able to enjoy extravagances. Despite numerous opportunities, student debt was real, and I was working jobs between classes to guarantee I could go in with my parents and afford the education I was enjoying.

I couldn’t justify digging a deeper hole for that debt, and that mindset in turn entrenched itself.

It was only later that I began the agonizing path to changing my perspective. I began to save. My funds were limited, but I had a plan: I would go backpacking for a full month, living hostel to hostel, an unrooted soul, with a determination to work any little jobs a potential night’s warden might require if I didn’t have the money to make ends meet.

Even so, it felt like an impulse buy and I had to do it despite my anxiety about the situation.

Skipping hotels might seem unnerving to most first world youths, but the fact is, this is the era of the wanderer.By using apps designed to connect travelers, by finding alternative destinations, hundreds of dollars can be freed up toward a lengthier stay.

Resourcefulness is key!

Having worked at a Michigan Secretary of State office after college, I can say this: one of the biggest mistakes people make is in the rush. Want to go to Canada? Great. Want to get an enhanced license taken care of this week and light out to Canada over the weekend? Not so much.

There are also a few necessities with which to come equipped as part of your resourcefulness. Clothes should be an obvious point, but adapters, a comfortable backpack, a raincoat, an international phone plan, and travel insurance are all solid choices as well. The phone plan keeps worries at bay among twitchy relatives (and spares the horrors of roaming charges), while travel insurance will bring peace of mind.

One thing I was ill-prepared for, though, was others’ opinions. Fellow travelers or teachers are more likely to be positive and supportive. Yet many others had criticisms about where I was spending my money, time and efforts—in spite of the fact that, at the end of the day, we are each of us our own person and each and every one of those things belongs to us. Sometimes, spending money on the journey instead of a new computer or trinket makes all the difference, if it has the impact on your life you expect it will.

Listen to concerns, but take all with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, you are the captain of your own course. You are forever in control of what’s happening to you.

⇒ Want to learn more about why a GLA trip can be a bridge for high schoolers who want to study abroad or travel in college? Click here.

Contributed by Chris Galford

March 21, 2016 by The Young Leader

Another World on Earth

Traveling greatly expands one’s mind. That first travel experience overseas affects an individual in innumerable ways, from learning about language and culture, to understanding how people value and perceive the world. China was my first international travel experience. My high school offered Mandarin classes to the incoming freshmen and planned a two-week trip to China the following summer. Thinking that I may never have another opportunity to visit Asia, not knowing about programs like GLA existed, I signed up. It would prove to be one of the most meaningful and important decisions of my life.

Almost immediately after I landed in Beijing I thought, “this is another world.” I studied French throughout high school and have lived in Spain and Peru. Discerning connections between English and American culture with European languages and cultures is fairly easy. In China, those connections are almost non-existent. One cannot simply read a sign or eavesdrop on locals and get a basic understanding of the main idea. From this I experienced culture shock; however, not in a negative fashion, but rather in an eye-opening one.

The first few days were surreal and I soon learned that we live in an extremely diverse world.

I visited four cities in China all of which required us to take an airplane. This solidified how massive the country is. Each city was huge but they all contained unique attributes. Beijing was like a bigger, more spread out New York City and the food was phenomenal. Shanghai was a metropolis with impressive modern architecture. Xi’An held amazing historical artifacts such as the Terracotta Warriors. Guilin displayed China’s natural beauty. Traveling to each of these cities showed me that we live in an enormous world with so much to see and do. It was meeting the locals that made it clear how similar we all are.

While in Beijing I had the chance to meet a family and see their home. Their small house was decorated with glass and porcelain figures from traditional Chinese myths and folk tales as well as family photos. They were cooking dinner and would eat soon after we left. Despite not openly displaying their affection, it was clear that the family was close and they were proud of their traditions and culture. This experience was both fulfilling and refreshing as I learned that even though we live on opposite sides of the planet, we are not so different in what we love and in what brings us happiness. Standing in that house made me feel closer to other people and made me appreciate my position in the world.

If you decide to take the journey, be aware of a few things. When traveling abroad, especially to a developing country, mind your waste and be considerate of the locals. Always clean up after yourself wherever you go. When you meet the locals, learn from them. Ask about their culture, language and history, but also ask about that individual. Make it a point to understand the culture through the locals’ eyes and specifically from their unique perspective. On a practical note, when you travel, take only what you need and be considerate with your food and water. Taking too much will be burdensome and you may part with things you don’t want to leave behind.

If you get the opportunity to travel, take it. Few experiences in life will shape how you view the world, and traveling is perhaps the most meaningful.

Contributed by Anthony Zamarro