I was thrilled to have been invited to an EF conference in Boston this past weekend. The conference was for teachers who have a strong interest in educational travel and would be willing to help new group leaders as they plan their trip. I am officially a Global Education Ambassador for EF!
I had an opportunity to share my experiences with other group leaders & discuss and learn about my role as GEA while learning more about EF. I am always excited when I have a chance to help someone expose their students to international travel because it always changes their lives.
I have been traveling internationally since I was 13. My first international travel experience took me to Yugoslavia (at this time the country had not split). I traveled without my parents but with a local church group. At a young age this was very eye opening. To experience new languages, cultures, airports, customs, etc. is quite an experience when you are 13. It opened my eyes to the world and instilled in me a love of cultures, new people and travel!
Since that time, I have been traveling as often as possible. As a high school sophomore I traveled to Spain for the first time. I lived with a local family in Lugo for three weeks, sharing a home with a host brother (who spoke very good English) and host parents (who spoke no English). Living with a family forced me to practice speaking the language. As a senior in high school, I traveled for a second time to Spain. This time to Mallorca. I spent another three weeks in Mallorca taking in the culture, language and life style. All of these experiences fostered a desire to learn about other cultures and to better understand them.
After high school I longed to travel more but didn't have a chance until after college. When I began teaching I had an opportunity to travel as a chaperon with the French teacher. We toured the Loire Valley.
Since then I have been arranging travel opportunities for students. In the past, I have traveled to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Czech Republic, England, Ireland, Wales & Italy with my students. My favorite part of traveling with students is hearing them talk about it after we return. They always comment on how they want to study abroad; how they plan to learn a new language; how the experience has changed their perspective and awareness of global issues. It is how I felt after my experiences in Spain.
This summer I will travel to Costa Rica with a few students. I am anxious to practice my language skills again (even though I have been out of practice for so long. I hope that my memory will not fail me too much!), learn about the people of Costa Rica (Ticos) and their customs.
I know that the students traveling with me are also anxious to practice their language skills, learn about the culture and people of Costa Rica, see a new part of the world and become global learners. These experiences help to close the gap and create cultural awareness and understanding. It also gives each student an opportunity to better understand our own culture and appreciate the differences.
I have been working with EF since 2008. I have worked with other companies but no one compares to EF. If you would like more information regarding educational travel experiences please visit EF's link or email me. I am always happy to share my experiences.
https://www.eftours.com/student-travel.aspx
Many, many thanks to the EF staff for their dedication, professionalism and work towards making global connections.
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| My Tour Consultant Janelle and me |
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| Some of Janelle's crew! |
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| The new GEA's and EF staff |
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