Why did you decide to study abroad with Broadreach?
Elsa: I chose to study abroad with Broadreach for many reasons. Everything I had heard about the program, either by talking to former staff and students or looking at their website and student reviews, made it sound like the perfect program for someone like me. It completely revolves around incredibly fun and educational activities, but is diverse enough that you learn more than you ever could on any other summer program. From somebody that has grown up in a small mountain town, exploring the world with a small group of strangers sounded like the perfect way to spend a portion of my summer.
I was excited about learning about the underwater world, sailing and the cultures of the countries we visited, as well as meeting new people with the same interests and mindsets that I have. My first Broadreach trip was so incredibly positive- in all ways- that I was thrilled to return for the past two summers for more scuba, sailing, hiking, rafting, surfing, wonderful people and cultures, and meaningful community service projects. I had never been to either the Caribbean or to Central America so my perspective on the world, especially coming from my small mountain town, has broadened immensely.
How has this experience impacted your future?
Elsa: My adventures on Broadreach have taught me countless things that I will be coming back to for years and years. First off, I have met many amazing people from across the country that I keep in touch with almost daily, and who I am sure will be lifelong friends. I gained a whole new passion for things we did on the trips, such as scuba diving and surfing.
Because of Broadreach, I am now a master scuba diver even though I live in Wyoming, and I love it so much I want to keep diving, experience new underwater environments, and getting new certifications. I learned how to work well with a small group of people my age and older which will help me in the future with anything teamwork related, like sports teams, schoolwork or a job.
Describe your favorite must-have food that you tried abroad.
Elsa: The favorite food that I tried on any of my trips were called Johnnycakes. Every night in Belize we were cooked these little roll type things, and when we spread mango jam on them, they were irresistible. Cumulatively, our group of nine probably ate nearly 80 rolls in just one week.
If you could do-over one thing, what would it be?
Elsa: Out of all the incredible experiences I had on my trip, I would go rappelling down a 90 foot waterfall in Diamonte Valley, Costa Rica, at least one more time. The initial one-of-a-kind experience was so thrilling and unique, and it was such a rare opportunity that very, very few people have ever experienced. It was really intimidating at first, but due to the reassurance and confidence of our guides, everybody had tons of fun and wanted to do it over and over again!
Highlights: On the Caribbean Grenadines Advanced Scuba voyage, a big part of the academics was the Emergency First Responder certification and the Rescue Diver certification. Both involved book work, but the Rescue Diver certification involved doing rescue scenarios, which were stressful scenarios designed to test your knowledge of what to do when confronted by a dive emergency. Even though these scenarios were stressful, they were a sure highlight of my trip because of the satisfaction they gave me. I am positive I will use the skills I learned in these scenarios, whether in a dive emergency or not.
The overall highlight of my trip was doing "dives on dives on dives!" The hard-core diving aspect of this trip was what really lured me in, and being able to come away with one dive short of being a master diver (I'm only 14), is really unbelievable. Every single dive site we went to was new and beautiful in it's own little way.
Morning: My boat would generally wake up at around 6:30 every morning, starting off with a breakfast two of the students would make. The food was usually different and creative every day- food was never an issue. At least five out of seven days a week there would be an optional morning dive, which was usually more beautiful than a regular dive. After the dive, we would generally pick up anchor and sail to another location, whether it was 20 minutes or 9 hours away. Time traveling was either sailing time, book work time, or nap time.
Afternoon: The afternoons were started with lunch made by two students, followed by dives on dives on dives! Right after lunch we would go on a dive for about 40 minutes, then would come back. While waiting for the tanks to be filled up, we would swim around the boat, do water sports like wake boarding, or do a lot of bookwork and rescue scenarios.
Evening: For dinner, everybody on the boat would meet in the cockpit for Dinner. Before everybody was allowed to eat, however, we did nightly rituals called Glums and Glows and the Squeeze. Glums and Glows was where everybody would go around and say the highlights of their day, good and bad. The squeeze was a time where everybody held hands with the person siting next to them, shut their eyes, and was silent for as long as it took for everybody to squeeze hands around in a circle. Following dinner, there was an optional night dive, which I personally wish I had done more of. At around 10:30, everybody went to bed! Some people would make the daring decision to sleep under the stars on the trampoline (a net), but would get rushed inside by the rain that would fall every night.