The Young Leader

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Learn to Surf in Costa Rica

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Have you ever heard of a summer volunteer program for high schoolers where you learn to surf? Well, you can do just that on GLA’s newly updated version of its Costa Rica: Sports Service Adventure program. And I’m not talking about just grabbing a surfboard and trying to learn on your own. At this teen surf program, you’re trained by professional surfers with an eye for waves and a lot of experience working with everyone from first-timers to near-experts. But watch out: you may get schooled on your first day on the waves.

But don’t be afraid! By the time all is said and done, you’ll be standing up and following through on the board like the new pro you are.

During this volunteer/immersion and Costa Rica surf camp combination program, you’ll spend some time helping the local children by teaching them your favorite games, like beach volleyball. You’ll be working on projects with a direct impact on the community, and the surfing is something you’ll learn to appreciate in the context of how locals depend on it for tourism.

How cool is that? They always say teaching others is the best way to learn! And understanding the issues facing the surrounding community will help you to value the ocean and its meaning to those who live by it.

Why not challenge yourself on a program that gives you a chance to show your sportsmanship, learn leadership skills and encourage others to work to improve the environment?

Contributed by William Pate

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Learn Spanish in an Immersive Way with GLA Spanish Summer Programs for High School Students

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I’ve taken part in a Spanish summer program for high school students. It can be an eye-opening learning experience, and on programs like GLA’s Costa Rica: Spanish Service Adventure.

Unlike most students who spend the majority of their time in classrooms during Spanish summer programs, on the Costa Rica: Spanish Service Adventure program, you only spend some of your dedicated language learning time in the classroom, you but also get outside to help on projects benefiting your local host population. It’s an immersive summer Spanish program for high school students where sharing conversation on a volunteer project site, at the local town market, or over dinner is as profound to your language learning as the classroom portion of your program.

From experience, I can tell you the best way to learn a new language is to be surrounded by it – so surrounded that there are very few speakers of your native language. Working alongside those in your host community, you can learn Spanish much more quickly and the projects can open your eyes to cultural differences and important social issues. Some issues don’t translate the same way between languages, so learning new aspects of a second language can open your mind up to understand different issues in ways you may not have conceived of before.

Adventure can consist of traveling to another country, and being a friendly new face in an unknown community. Adventure can also consist of sharing a part of yourself with your host community, and taking something of that community with you when you go. Language – the great connector – is a powerful way to achieve the latter. Learning a new language is a path to adventure where there hadn’t been a bridge before.

So what are you waiting for? Take the adventure.

Contributed by William Pate

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Bridging the Gap: Unity in a Youth Choir

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The people:

  • Avital Maeir-Epstein, 16 and Israeli
  • Muhammad Murtada Shweiki, 15 and Palestinian

The place:

  • Jerusalem International YMCA in West Jerusalem

The activity:

  • Singing

The feat:

  • Singing together, in a choir

This past summer, the New York Times featured these two teens in an article about unity in a time of escalating violence. Through all this violence, one of the few places to remain safe and, in fact, designed to facilitate mutual understanding and empathy, was their choir meeting space.

What Maier-Epstein and Shweiki did there was much more than sing. Along with other students and organizers, they contributed to dialogue sessions designed to allow conversation about differences, instead of just glossing them over or placating them with standard prepared remarks.

25-year-old American Micah Hendler founded the youth chorus, and has been instrumental in its success. When we think about how an American from thousands of miles away – and even more importantly, worlds away from these kids’ upbringings and day-to-day lives – contributed to a new era of cooperation between these teens, it’s understandable to be awed. It may be a small feat in the scope of the Israel-Palestine conflict, but in the lives of these young people, it is so much more.

Like our mission at GLA, which is to inspire the next generation of teens to change the world and their role in it, being the change isn’t just about big victories, but small ones. And when fomenting change, the small ones matter most.

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