Up with People On Tour Gap Year Experience

Everyone has daydreams of what they could be doing. Traveling around the world, knowing people across the globe, creating long-life friends, experiencing adventures that are unique, learning new skills, ... The crazy thing is that Up with People gave me all of this. Time has become relative, I have done more in a semester than otherwise I would do in several years. Give me a category of stories and I bet you that I can give you one. Either doing volunteer work in the slums of Manila and realizing what an impact you can have by reaching out. Or performing for 12.000 people in an arena in Germany and seeing the flashes go off. Or having a deep conversation with a host family that last for hours and helped me reshape our perspectives on the world. Or joking around with friends and suddenly realizing they are all from different countries and it does not matter. Or having a workshop with the whole cast and experience new cultural perspectives that blow my mind. Or performing in front of the Pope in front of the Vatican. Or meeting a president. Or seeing the growth in everyone around me from week to week. And the list goes on. Words such as life-changing are often misplaces, but for this organization I can guarantee you it is correct. It has changed my life for the better. And the great thing is that the effect lasts, because you get to keep the friends.

I knew about Up with People long before I understood it. In 1967, I was in the second grade and heard our local Sing Out in Basile, Louisiana sing the theme song and "What Color is God's Skin?" on a local TV talk show. The messages of the songs moved me (although I was just a kid) and by the time I was in high school, I, too, was singing in our local Sing Out.

When I saw my first Up with People show, it was alongside my fellow Sing Out members as we took a bus trip to a city an hour away to see the show. (Back in 1976, an hour bus trip was a big deal to students in a town of only 2,000).

By the time I became a member of Cast A of UWP in 1983, I was already committed to the ideals of the program because I had been lucky enough to be a part of my local Sing Out for four years of high school.

My hometown helped me raise the money for a big part of my tuition, and I promised I would return to somehow repay the community. I hope I did that when I reorganized our local Sing Out after Up with People visited our little town one year after I returned from my cast year. Over the years, we were lucky enough to get a cast here two others years as well. My little Sing Out was thrilled to perform during those years for four different Up with People casts whenever they were in Basile or the immediate area.

At night in my sleep, I often dream of my year in Up with People. During my 32 years as a full time teacher, I always kept my cast photo above the board in the front of my classroom. I spoke of my year and my castmates often to my students and took many busloads to see the show anytime a cast was within the state of Louisiana.

My year on the road with UWP continues to inspire me and push me to give to my community as our local newspaper editor, our church choir director, and as a member of our local little theatre board. It also has enabled me to take on some interesting jobs opportunities that I would have never had otherwise.

Although I am a certified English and social studies teacher by degree, I became my school's band director in spite my lack of formal music training. When approached for the position, my principal said, "You were in Up with People so I think you can handle the job."

I replied, "I sang in Up with People. I can only play a little guitar. Do you want a guitar band?"

He said, "If you don't take the job then we won't have a band." That was it. With the true spirit of Up with People in mind, I took the position, thinking it would only be for a year. That year became 10 years and included my passing of the Praxis exam in music. I attribute my global music education through UWP for enabling me to pass the test because my only formal music training was a piano class for non-music majors that I took years after traveling.

Now that I am retired from full time teaching, I have taken on the part time position of Talented Music and Theatre teacher. Since I am not certified to teach talented students, the state of Louisiana granted me the position based upon my portfolio of work in music and theatre, primarily including clippings from my year in Up with People year.

I am thrilled to have been able to continue my participation in Up with People over the years through events such as the Branson Alumni Project and the recent Tapestry Cast show in Orlando.

I am currently organizing the 50 Year Reunion for our local Sing Out here in Basile - which will be held in the summer of 2017. Although the group no longer exists, we have had several reunions over the years and even sang for our town's centennial back in 2011.

During my cast's Christmas dinner in December of 1983, we passed out gift boxes to cast members based upon a characteristic that we felt that each cast member exhibited. Each "characteristic" box was wrapped inside another box. The first box was large and the final box very small. When fellow cast member Tag Purvis of Mississippi opened his box and saw the word "loyal," he immediately called out my name and gave the box to me. I was shocked, not because I did not think I was "loyal," but because I felt that so many others were 'loyal."

Now that I am writing this letter, I feel as though it is Up with People that has been loyal to me. Its music began moving me as a second grader. Its spirit guided me as a Sing Outer in high school. Its Cast A83 touched me in ways I am still realizing today.

Darrel LeJeune
Basile, Louisiana
Cast A83

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had the experience to travel with Up with People right after college, I feel rich with the amount of friendships I made from around the world some of them that will for sure last a life time!

Traveling with UWP taught me many and diverse life skills that have shaped my personal life and professional formation, from becoming bilingual to developing self confidence to talk and perform in public, from learning how to work as a team with people from many different beliefs and diverse cultures, to build a successful resume and also to have the benefit of so very many international contacts and connections from all across the fields of work and cultures that have helped me through the years to develop my own business through networking with people I met in my travels with the organization.

I developed knowledge and understanding about our world by having traveled with several hundred people my age from all over the planet, we volunteered hundreds of hours in rewarding community projects in the places that we traveled, we performed on stage for hundreds of thousands of people [including a memorable Super Bowl Half Time show!] not too mention having lived with over 350 host families in more than 30 different countries. [I traveled for several years after my student year on their staff], all of these experiences made me the world citizen that I feel I am now.

I recommend Up with People highly as a great opportunity to learn about yourself, about our ever changing world and to truly get the opportunity and the satisfaction to make a difference in this world by being part of one of the very best international programs around!

Travel * Perform * Impact !

Up with people is one of the best experiences I ever had.
I wanted to take a gap year after high school to travel and volunteer. Up With People was perfect for that, plus it had the performance part, which truly helped me to make my choice, as music has always been a big part of my life.
I grew in so many ways during my semester at Up With People. To live constantly with 100 others young people from 20 different contries is the thing that impacted me the most. Everyone is different, has different backrounds, different cultures, and still, those 100 strangers become your family, your best friends, even without noticing... until you have to leave them.
The hostfamilies you live with become so important that when you talk about your actual family, you have to mention that it's your REAL family.

It's not easy everyday. Sometimes, being away from home is hard. Sometimes, you have to step out of your comfort zone (like staying in a hostfamily that doesn't speek english, with you not speeking spanish, or gardening by 35°C with HUGE spiders around). But this is how you grow, and be sure that your new friends will be there for you !

Finally, Up With People helped me to know who I really am, who I want to be, what is important for me or not, what are my values, what do I believe in, and what I want to do (or not) with my life.

I traveled in Up with People straight out of high school. I was a bright eyed 18 year old ready to see more than past my own backyard. What I learned and gained was more than I could ever hope for. I learned so much more about the world and understood that everything is connected. I made friends from around the world that I still talk to every week. I also matured being put into new situations every week.
My favorite part is the people. You become so close to your cast-mates because you experience something that no one else understands. It is such an amazing bond that years can go by and it feels like you just saw your friend last week. Recently I went on a road trip with three of my cast-mates and it was awesome. We got to see who we have become since traveling and create new adventures together.
You can also get close to your host families. I still have my little Italian sister email me for every Holiday and I sometimes help her with her English homework. Who else can say that?
Lastly I want to say that if you have never performed before it is okay. Lots of people who have traveled have not performed but it is all apart of the experience!
If you are even considering traveling please apply. What can it hurt? It might be the first step to a great adventure!

As graduation from high school came closer, I had the feeling that I wasn't ready for college yet. I had attended the same school since kindergarten and I was tired of seeing the same old places. I also wanted to become a better person and make this world a better place, so volunteering became an idea.
I talked about it with my parents, and so the search began. I found a lot of nice organisations online, but none of them really stood out to me. I didn't want to be doing the same thing for 3 or 4 months, I wanted something more adventurous. Lucky for me, faith helped a little. My godmother came over and said she would be hosting 3 people from an organisation called 'Up with People'. I immediately turned to my mom and asked her why we weren't hosting anyone, but she had just never heard about it.
The 3 guys came over and it was great. Then saturday came and we were all going to watch the organisations show. Right off the bat, seeing all these people from all different cultures dance together, I tears started welling up in my eyes. The guys had already talked to me about the volunteering they did, so immediately after the show I was sold. I interviewed with them and got in!
Today, 3 years ago, I met up with 10 other people from Belgium at the airport and with a tiny heart my adventure began. Since the day I arrived, I felt at "home". Everyone was so open, positive and kind. It's realy unexplainable how meeting the whole cast felt. Time flew by and I met all sorts of awesome people, made amazing friendships, did all kinds of voluntary work, felt loved, important and, most of all, very happy.
Before I traveled with this program, I was so introverted, shy and unsure about myself. After 6 amazing months I just found myself, I really did find myself. Never had the feeling that I belonged until I was there. It's very difficult to explain the program. Well, you can easily tell what the program does, but it's indescribable what the program does for you. It was my best adventure so far and I miss it every single day. I'm so happy that I can now say that I stepped out of my comfort zone, started an adventure with 120 or so people, made friends all over the world and took my first steps in making this world a better place.
If you're thinking about travelling with this program, I'd say 'Just do it' :)

The decisions to travel with Up with People after graduating from college was the best one I have ever made. Not only was I able to visit 30 cities across the globe in just six months, I also had the opportunity to live in host families and truly give back to each of those communities. Up with People is unlike any other gap year program. Not only was I experiencing new cultures every week, but I was doing it with 100 other participates from their own unique countries and cultures. That kind of experience and cross cultural communication is invaluable in a modern workplace and to todays employers. The connections I have made around the world are some of the most meaningful relationships I've ever experienced and I could not be more grateful for them. I loved performing for thousands in a variety of venues one day, learning and developing professional skills with our business team the next day, and engaging in community impact projects the day after that. I learned how to be both a leader and a team player, and made some of my closest friends along the way. The best part about the entire experience, is the places and people I met changed the way I viewed the world. To really see the beauty in diversity, and to grow as a person along the way is an incredible gift. If I could go back and relive my time with Up with People, I would do it in a heart beat! It was the most meaningful, exciting, and adventure filled semester of my life! Up with People truly changed my life.

The way I interact with people, my goals and the way I seek them, my love for traveling and my flexibility definitely have been influenced by my time in Up with People.
My mind and possibilities were opened by conversations I had with people I'd never have thought I'd be friends with! And now I have so many friendships and contacts around the world!
If you are willing to step into an adventure with 100 other people...Go ahead and apply :)