Lovett School issued the following announcement on Apr. 12.
In the weeks leading up to the course request deadline, students spent a lot of time thinking about what they wanted their schedules to look like. For some Lovett students over the years, that planning has included studying abroad.
Ms. Turner, the Director of Civic and Global Engagement, called the many abroad programs that Lovett offers a “jewel of a thing.” According to Ms. Turner, they are part of “a long tradition of including engagement with the wider world” and a “signature Lovett experience.”
Our school offers a variety of programs to any student who may be interested in travel but doesn’t necessarily want to be gone for a full semester or year. One of our “amazing opportunities” in the summer is Siempre Verde, where students can take a trip to the land Lovett owns in Ecuador.
We also offer a trip to Israel in the summer, which also counts as a religion credit! Ms. Turner describes it as a “great way to get a credit in an experiential way.”
If students would prefer a lengthier program during the school year, we’re partnered with 12 semester away schools, ranging from North Carolina all the way to Switzerland. These programs are especially helpful for students who want to dive into a particular interest and simply keep up with their other classes.
We also offer many exchange programs, including to Australia, South Africa, and England (which has been offered for girls this year!). It’s set up so that students can visit a country without missing school and focus more on the social part instead of having to stress about grades. Ms. Turner said that it’s an “authentic way to get to know a country,” and because students stay with a host family, the student only has to pay the cost of airfare!
Finally, a program that might be introduced for Summer 2023 is a trip centered around marine biology in the Bahamas! The idea’s currently being proposed, so we’ll have to wait for more details to come.
When I asked Ms. Turner if there’s a specific type of student who usually participates, she said that in reality there’s “something out there for everybody,” which is part of what makes these opportunities so special. For example, if someone’s interested in science or Spanish, they would have tons of fun on the Siempre Verde trip!
Speaking of students, a couple of students here at Lovett have participated in these programs such as Griffin Bain, a senior who went to South Africa, and Mikayla Carter, a sophomore who went to Switzerland this year.
At Griffin’s school, which was an African leadership academy, he saw “a lot of different cultures.” While life there was “pretty normal,” the school used the Cambridge system rather than AP or IB like we see in America. He lived on campus and described it as a standard boarding school.
Mikayla spent 3 months in an alpine town in Switzerland. During her free time, she spent “half the time hiking and the other skiing.” Every weekend she would go on a trip, and some of the planned ones were to Italy and France!
Of course, being in a different country could invite some difficulties with language or the learning, like how Griffin said the curriculum was different.
Even though everyone at Griffin’s school had to speak English to go, that didn’t mean everyone was fluent in it. While it took a while to get used to the accents, he “got around it.” Luckily, two of his classes had a “more Lovett teaching style” since the teachers were American.
At Mikayla’s school, she was “always doing something,” because they really made them focus on work. After dinner, they’d have a 2-hour study hall, then 30 minutes of free time before lights out, and along with this, she didn’t even have her phone. In Switzerland, they speak Swiss-German, but because most Europeans speak English, the language barrier is “not super hard.”
When you’re living somewhere, no matter how far you are, you start to feel like a local. Griffin said he was “not really feeling like a tourist,” and Mikayla even said, “When tourists came, we got annoyed.”
In a foreign country, the thing most people look forward to most (and probably the whole reason they went) is being able to explore and do exciting things. For these students, this opportunity was given to them during their free time. Griffin had “plenty of freedom” and often went to malls with his friends and roommate (the rule was to stay with at least one other person.) Mikayla said she was “always skiing,” and often went into town to explore and eat some good food. There was also an ice skating rink, which was a popular place to go.
There’s so much to love about every single one of these opportunities. Going into it, Griffin didn’t know what to expect, but he loved “how nice everyone was.” Mikayla loved how everyone that was at the school with her had a common interest, so they “worked well together.” The town was “perfect,” and in the off-season there aren’t many tourists, so she was able to get close with a lot of locals. And when it was finally time for her to leave, she wasn’t ready to go back.
When I asked why someone should do this, Ms. Turner explained how she herself was an exchange student and said, “It transformed my life.” She hopes that every kid can have this experience, because it truly helped her become confident and independent. Along with this, both the students that I spoke with said that they would definitely recommend this to other students.
The only downsides would be the expenses or planning. Since students usually have other commitments, it can be difficult to juggle many things at once. For the expenses, Lovett offers financial aid that can help with that. The staff are working towards getting the information out to families before school gets out for summer, so that there aren’t as many last-minute decisions for anyone.
For each program, the students need to fill out an application. For this, it’s mainly just writing a couple paragraphs to questions that “make sure you can handle it” as Mikayla said. Along with this, students usually submit their grades.
Ultimately, this is a unique and special opportunity that is offered here at Lovett. Ms. Turner says, “We want kids to know about it,” and if there is a student who doesn’t feel like their interests match up with any of these programs, they should stop by her office. “We want to help,” she explained. Plus, now that more and more countries are opening back up, “we’re lucky to get kids out” because “after Covid they’re hungry to travel.”
Original source can be found here.
Source: Lovett School
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