Summer High School Programs in International Business

I think the one piece of advice that any student who is wondering if they should go on an MEI trip should know is that MEI is an academic program which requires hard work. Of course, that is not to say you don't get to go out and see the location you are in, but more of a word of caution that you have to be willing to work hard in order to get good grades as you might get in your normal high school.

Since the summer programs are condensed versions of courses you may usually take in four months down into 35 days, you have to acknowledge that you will always have an assignment on the go. My biggest piece of advice is that you shouldn't procrastinate while on the program and always finish with your best work possible.

An average day with MEI is fairly standard across all programs. You wake up and have morning workout at about 7:00 local time until 7:30. This workout is one of the best activities to start your day with. Often, we play ultimate frisbee or other active group activities to wake us up and help beat jet lag. We then head back to where we are staying and get changed and eat breakfast. At around 9:00 AM, we meet again as a class and participate in Morning Note, a journaling exercise which requires 900 words in 30 minutes. This allows us to get ready academically for the day and helps train us to write fast.

After that, we will either already be at our lecture location or we will walk to it. This location is always relevant to the material we are learning that day. After our lecture, we are often assigned an assignment and have around four hours of free time to head out in groups of three to explore the city and work.

In the two course programs, we meet again in the afternoon to have another lecture and head to dinner as a family or small groups. At the end of the day, we have free time to unwind after dinner, get work done with friends in other rooms at the hotel, and go back to our own assigned rooms for room check where teachers give us important information about the next day.

My biggest fear about going abroad was the fact I went alone without knowing anyone else, and being scared that I wouldn't make friends. This was completely changed with MEI from the first day everyone came in to meet everyone with this same fear. The fear quickly evaporated as we really met each other and talked for a bit.

MEI builds a family on each trip where you feel that you truly belong. All the teachers on the trip are easy to talk to and feel more of a mentor than a normal classroom teacher who you might be intimidated to talk to. Once you start to live with everyone and move as a group, you realize that the students you are with are just like you, and you just become so quickly bonded! In the future, I look forward to travelling solo and meeting new people I might have never talked to on a normal day at home.

I've gained seven years of travel and teaching experience in parts of Europe, North Africa, North and Southeast Asia, and Australia and Fiji with MEI Academy. Perhaps the most growth has occurred as a result of co-teaching for all of these years. I get the opportunity to learn new teaching strategies from fellow program leaders who I live and teach with every day. The collaboration is non-stop and we get to beg, borrow, and steal the best from each other!

A lot of MEI students who go on to complete the remainder of high school or post-secondary studies talk about how easy the transition to independent living is for them in comparison to their peers. They've lived and studied abroad, had roommates, and problem-solved life skills like laundry, proper eating, and so on with us already, and so when they live away from their parents for the second time (at college or university), they're not overwhelmed with the transition.

People always ask this question and it's almost impossible to answer! Here's what I usually suggest: If a student is looking to free up extra space in their grade 12 timetable, then be sure to take an MEI two-credit summer program, like Trek Through Europe or Backpackers: Central America.

If a student is looking for a truly eye-opening cultural adventure, try Expedition to Tanzania or Fall Semester: The East. If a student is interested in Business school, definitely give our International Business summer program serious thought. If a student is on a gap year, or only needs 2-3 more credits to graduate, consider one of MEI's shorter trimester programs.

There is something for everyone — one just needs to decide if purpose or place is the deciding factor.

What makes MEI Academy unique is that every aspect of our overseas programming is developed and executed by a team of certified teachers.

I am most proud of our cross-curricular (e.g. History + English, Business + World Issues, etc.) connections as this is when our teaching and students' learning is most natural and REAL. Topics and events in the real world do not exist in a vacuum and neither should education!