Multi-Country Verto Education First Semester Abroad

I always have felt that I can really roll with a lot of changes. This trip has definitely assured this of myself in my own mind. Although the traveling was consistently long and arduous, to the best of my ability I kept a level head and allowed myself to enjoy everything that the trip had to offer. I have to say that I absolutely loved this trip, not only was the experience incredibly valuable, but it also changed many of my hopes and dreams for the future. Because of this trip I now want to go into an environmental field and maybe even become a Rustic Pathways leader for a few years. Overall though, the people are what made the trip. The leaders, teachers, and other students were all such amazing people who I hope to keep in contact with because without the amazing people, I doubt I would have been able to handle all that was Verto Education South Pacific.

This semester not only gave be the incredible opportunity to see the world, build relationships, and life experience, but gave me the educational side that most gap programs do not offer. This program gave me adventures such as sky diving, white water rafting, and meeting and learning about the indigenous people and their culture. Within this program, experiential learning was applied, and this gave me the opportunity to see the effects of global warming in person, and the visual of what I had been learning in class, seen in real life. While doing a reef survey on the island on Beqa in Fiji, I had reminded myself that this was my freshman semester of college! I would not trade this experience for the world, and will continue to recommend this program for years to come.

Our first leg of the program in Fiji was a little hard at first mainly because we were with new people, in a very new surrounding, and thousands of miles away from home - to many the first time being away for so long. Our program leader and our teachers worked with what they were provided and made the most of it although it was hard a times. Sometimes they didn't know what the schedule plan was because it was so fluid so coming up with a plan on the spot for that many kids is hard. The leads is so young and joyful that it made coping with the tough situations better, we saw him as more of a friend than our leader. The next two countries were more similar to the states so everything from the bat was a lot easier. We adjusted to our surroundings very well and were active and cooperative throughout the NZ and Australia. The key component to making this trip work so smoothly, however, were the two leaders Ben and Eliza who literally ran the show with a smile on their faces 24/7. They woke up hours before we did and planned our meals appropriately throughout the day and had sleepless nights some days to ensure that we had all that we needed the next morning. Not once did they complain, and very few times asked for our collaboration just so that we could have all the time to ourselves that we wanted.

Verto is a unique opportunity which allows young adults to travel while getting college credits at the same time. I got to explore parts of the world I wouldn’t have dream of seeing in Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. The culture in these places made their mark on me; I gained different perspectives on my own life. Having a small group of around 13 students made the experience socially exhausting- yet VERY rewarding. I was glad that I was able to be comfortable with my classmates, privacy was something I realized I took for granted at home. Everyone is going on the same trip together, yet we all had different experiences. What could be better than getting college credits for doing field studies in places like the Great Barrier Reef? I learned a lot about the world, and myself, on this trip.

As parents, Verto offered an unparalleled and crucial experience for our daughter as she launched her academic career. Over the past three months, she lived in two countries, was part of a vibrant community of students and teachers, and learned about her passion for environmental studies through hands-on experiences and professionals in the field. Through all this and more, she has gained independence, confidence in her ability to keep up with the rigors of academics, and a greater hunger to learn more and make a difference in the world. While she was away, Verto Education regularly gave us updates with great photos(!) and had her safety and well-being as a priority. We would not hesitate to recommend this program to others. Verto Education delivers as advertised! A great freshman year, indeed.
Christy Tull and Bill Tijerina

Excellent program for our daughter that was focused on both academics and service. We are very happy and it's definitely an experience we would like to give our younger kids in the future. Awesome work by the leaders on teaching college bound students on life skills and time management. I was one of those parents that new very little about the program but was reassured by High Point University that the program was safe and transformative. I'm glad I decided to embark my daughter on this trip for her first semester of college. She is ready to continue her studies in a college environment with a different perspective of life. For all the parents that are hesitant on sending their child to study abroad, do not be afraid. It is a supervised program with great leaders.

Verto education is a great first semester abroad program for anyone that loves traveling, learning, and even maybe getting out of their comfort zone. The experiences that we had with NGO's, homestays and hikes really showed us all about the country and taught us more. The site visits really tied to our classwork and helped us learn about what we learned in class but with hands on. Verto Education is a very hands-on experience when it comes to classwork and learning but they also have many fun trips throughout the semester we are abroad. Highly recommend this gap year program to anyone. The group leaders are also very helpful with school work and want you to be successful throughout the semester they are very helpful with everything and are always there to help you and make you better at what you're struggling at.

My experience with Verto Education was a life-altering one and arduous one. However, I could never be more grateful for what it has taught me. I realized things about myself that I didn't know before. I plan on returning back to my initial homestay, the Dominican Republic has a place within my heart. I learned a tremendous amount from the NGO's and really felt that I was intellectually fulfilled. The classes touched every aspect that interested me. I want to acknowledge my leaders Jackie and Brian for truly caring for my self growth and well being as a student. Verto Education actually fulfilled my lifelong dream of staying with an indigenous community! I work with Aboriginals from Australia and loved learning about the Bri Bri culture. I would 110 percent recommend this program to someone else.

I really enjoyed this program because I got to travel while also taking classes and being intellectually stimulated as well as getting credits for university. That was my dream all along. One of my favorite parts was going to the Bateyes and building latrines. Even though it was very physically difficult, it was super impactful to see where these people live in small towns in the sugar cane fields and then learning in class about the problems in the DR with Haitian citizenship and women's issues. I also loved playing basketball with some of the school kids and having lunch with them, and dancing with the locals after expressing our gratitude for them letting us into their community showing us their lives. This was a once in a lifetime experience and I really got to walk in other peoples shoes. I have much more empathy and passion for other cultures than I ever had before.

This trip has definitely given me the opportunity to grow independently, and i'm glad i had the opportunity to meet all of the people i was able to meet in the communities, and the other student and program leaders on the trip. The service work felt powerful, but i would definitely tell people the experience with everyone was the highlight of my trip on Verto. The connections i made with the students here, and the program leaders i would be able to tell my kids about. The classes are absolutely amazing even if the topic doesn't particularly interesting to me i found it extremely engaging and enjoyable. There are many important things I learned on the trip that i never would have learned outside this program. The classes gave me a lot of historical, environmental, public health, and development insight.

I came into this program scared of the unknown, in a new country, with a group of complete strangers. We quickly got very close and realized how much we had in common and embraced our differences. So grateful that we got to enjoy the beautiful country of the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. I bonded very well with the group of 8 students and the program leaders were amazing on all levels. Cared so much for us as individuals and for our success on this program. We had so much fun and learned so much regarding public health, development, identity, and sustainability and now I will be changing my ways coming back home and implementing a lot into my life back home. Wouldn't trade my experience for anything else and this was such a better freshman year. Loved it a lot and would highly recommend.

I had a great experience on this trip. The in-country staff was amazing, and I connected with everyone, students and staff. Jackie and Brian were great, I felt that we had the perfect balance of fun, work and relax time. The excursions were super fun, the catamaran trip was great and I will always remember swimming in the cave. I was skeptical this trip would be more travel and excursion related and not academically rigorous but I'm glad that the classes were so great. I learned so much and I think there is a lot to be said for learning by doing. It was very meaningful to learn about the same things in class as we were learning about at the NGO visits and the fieldwork. The best way to learn something is by seeing it and experiencing it hands-on.

My 3 months in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica were an amazing time. Had so much fun and having courses that tied directly to what we saw definitely enriched the experience. Learned a ton about myself and got to be meaningfully immersed in other cultures. Program highlights include homestay, meeting students from all over the world, living without electricity, and many side adventures. Great combination of fun and learning.

Favorite part of the program had to be meeting my Costa Rican homestay family. Our dad, Elias was an amazing guy who was so willing to share his stories and experiences. Being on a farm and lending a hand was meaningful and made us more conscious of where our food comes from.

EARTH University was also an amazing part of the program. Sitting down in the cafeteria and having lunch with people from 8 different countries was an experience that I will remember for a long time.