As the school year wraps up, many University Academy scholars are making their way toward the road—the road to an educational traveling experience!
This year, UA has 21 students participating in summer programs. Many students are traveling all around the world to places like Italy, South Korea, Japan, Canada, Spain and Ghana. Several others are doing programs in the United States in Massachusetts and Alaska.
Of the students traveling internationally, 10 are participating in the Experiment in International Living program, and six are part of the Student Diplomacy Corps. With each of these programs that last several weeks, students will travel through different countries learning about their cultures, histories and ways of life. EIL even includes homestays where participants get to live with a local family for a while.
The other programs UA students will participate in this summer are the Student Diplomacy Experimental College and the National Outdoor Leadership School. NOLS courses are wilderness expeditions that develop leadership skills. In SDXCO, students have an immersive college experience on a Massachusetts campus. Three Gryphons are doing SDXCO, and one is embarking on an outdoor NOLS adventure in Alaska.
These exciting summer opportunities are made possible by the UA Foundation, which offers students the chance to enjoy educational travel experiences while also earning college credits. These programs also help UA students learn how to be more independent as they get closer and closer to college life.
Junior Taleah Eubanks is going to Ghana for EIL’s Art and Culture Studies program.
She said, “The most exciting part about going abroad would have to be visiting new places and engaging in various activities.”
Ms. Tamra Gibson, UAF’s scholarship program director, said her favorite thing about the UAF summer programs is watching students grow and seeing how they experience the world.
Ms. Gibson said, “The best thing students get from these programs is the sense of independence.”
Study abroad programs started being offered at UA many years ago to help prepare students for the future by giving them the chance to experience the world with the safety of trusted adults guiding the way.
Eubanks’ adventure in Ghana will be her first time out of the country. However, it is not the first time she has been a part of a UAF summer program. Last year, she went to Massachusetts for SDXCO.
Eubanks said, “The program in Massachusetts really stood out to me because it offered college credits, which I knew would help me immensely when progressing through my college career.”
Speaking of college, UAF has noticed a trend with Gryphons who take advantage of summer programs during high school.
“70% of our students who participate in study abroad graduate college,” Ms. Gibson said.
To earn a scholarship from UAF for a summer program, there are a few qualifications that need to be met. Scholars must have a minimum 3.0 GPA if applying as a sophomore or a 2.5 GPA if applying as a junior. They also need an attendance rate of 96%. Any student who meets these criteria can move through the application process, which includes a written application, teacher recommendations and an interview.
As someone who just started working at UAF last year, Ms. Gibson said she was surprised to learn about the enrichment experiences UA students have at their fingertips.
“I was blown away at the opportunities afforded to students from K-12 all the way to college and even after,” she said. “That’s not common.”
Eubanks seems to already understand that her experience will be special.
She said, “There’s … going to be some point in time when you’re abroad where you just stop and think, wow, look at where I’m at. It’s absolutely surreal when you really think about the experience you’re living through.”
Happy travels, Gryphons!
