Two students voyage overseas to Africa and Europe

Grace Burke
Associate Editor

While many students’ summers were filled with time consuming jobs or days at the beach, some privileged teens were jet setting around the world gaining experiences of a lifetime. They took the time to find programs outside of school that allowed them to travel and focus on their specific interests.

Name: Jackie Trager
Grade: Senior
Continent: Africa

Over the summer I went to South Africa, Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania. I had so much fun and saw many different things. First, I did about two weeks of safari and then I traveled around for another two weeks.

I saw a variety of things, like Victoria Falls and Nelson Mandela’s house. My favorite thing was going  to ‘Mukuni big 5’, a place that rescued cheetahs and lions. It was really cool to get so close to such wild animals. Even though most of the things I saw and did were really fun, I did see some things that weren’t as happy.

I visited a few ghettos and volunteered at an orphanage. I got to see first hand how poor and desperate the majority of people are there. Most kids have one set of clothes and make toys out of sticks and grass. My guide informed me that most people live on less then a dollar a day and only one kid from each ghetto gets the chance to go to college. It was surprising to me that even public school there isn’t free.

After talking to many of the kids, it was easy to see that what they want more then anything is an education. I am a part of a club called Free the Children and hopefully this year we will raise enough money to build a school in Kenya. Going on this trip reinforced my ideas about how much this school will make a difference. This was definitely and amazing and eye opening trip.

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Name: Michelle Halpert
Grade: Junior
Continent: Europe

For five weeks, I was with a study abroad program in Granada, Spain. The program consisted of high school students all around the U.S.

Every day during the week, I would go to school for four hours at the University of Granada. I was in class with other students from around the world and all different ages. The rest of the day, we would have free time for activities such as visiting the Alhambra or museums and cathedrals.

During the weekends, we would go on excursions to other cities such as Madrid, Seville, Toledo, and Cordoba. The trip was such an amazing experience because we got to live like real locals and experience the Spanish culture. We all improved our Spanish but also became more responsible, independent, and open-minded.

Photos contributed by Jackie Trager & Michelle Halpert