In The News

North Chicago senior Scholar Jeremias Figueroa had the opportunity to do a summer program in South Africa this past summer. Below is a personal reflection of his six-week experience.

Cultural immersion experiences are a springboard to learning and leadership

Professional exchange programs can have immediate results, even on issues as complex as international crime.

A trip to India last summer sparked a passion in Isabella Nuñez that she shared with her whole school. "We stayed in a small village in India, and they re-use apricot pits there that are being thrown away to make them into soap and body lotion," she said. "The idea of using something that is wasted, I thought that was really cool."

Heather Beard, The Experiment in International Living's Director of Admissions explained, “With 30 students participating this summer, Monroe County has the highest number of students participating than any other county in the U.S., outside of the New York City metro area.”

Meet teenagers Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo (alumna of The Experiment) who collaborated with Princeton University on ‘The Classroom Index,’ a textbook devoted to racial literacy.

The Fellowship Initiative sponsored by JPMorgan Chase is a comprehensive mentoring and enrichment program that exposes young men of color to the skills, experiences, and knowledge they’ll need to compete globally. One hundred-twenty African American and Latino high school students from New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles (40 from each city) are currently participating.

Newtown resident Ethan Cox recently reflected on everything he learned while traveling to Tanzania with The Experiment in International Living program over the summer.

Whether you're in your 60s, 70s, or 80s, you, too, can find a side gig or personal pursuit out there with your name on it. The amount of time you spend working — or even volunteering — might be concentrated into one season, like summer. Or it could be ongoing, but scaled back to once a week. You can even choose how much or how little you want to work or engage in what interests you.

The host of Key West with Jenna interviews The Experiment in International Living's Director of Admissions Heather Beard and a participant headed to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands this summer.

Last summer, Noah Kravitz and a group of other Experimenters glimpsed firsthand the life of Syrian refugees in Jordan. In this Channel One News report, Noah shares the impact of his visit to a refugee camp. Learn more: https://www.experiment.org/

The opportunity of a life-time: a chance for students to study abroad and bring those experiences back to their Chicago neighborhoods.

About 2 percent of college-bound U.S. high school students choose to do a gap year after high school graduation, says Fred Kaelin, a Mattituck high school alum and executive director of USA Gap Year Fairs, which organizes nationwide fairs where a variety of programs exhibit; see the schedule at usagapyearfairs.com. "Some students will combine a couple of experiences for their year. They might do a semester with Outward Bound and then do a travel program," Kaelin says.