MEI Academy, World High School

Following my 3 month trip with MEI, I came back home with more academic knowledge and more importantly, a better sense of self. While travelling across europe with an entirely new peer group, I made lifelong friendships and had some huge laughs all while gaining a global perspective on world issues and making interdisciplinary connections. Although the travelling aspect of the trip was fun, the work was challenging and forced my class to deeply reflect on what we were learning and strive to better perform in writing and public speaking. I learned to take better photos, analyse and critique everyday concepts and perhaps most notably, navigate different relationship dynamics. This trip was a great first step towards university and gaining independence from my parents, as well as looked great on all of my post-secondary applications, garnering me numerous scholarships. Since I was in my final year of high school, staff ensured I got the support I needed to send out post-secondary applications, guidance I really appreciated. My class was given freedom to explore while also following a typical expected structure of a day, which allowed for us to do our own exploring while hitting all of the key landmarks for our studies. One thing I will note is that MEI is not for the faint of heart; on my semester abroad I was tested and pushed physically, emotionally and academically, and amid the fast-paced environment I often found myself overspent and exhausted, with minimal support resources. I found myself with very little time to stop and really reflect on what I was learning or even how I was feeling in a given moment. This trade-off was arguably worth it for the 3 months of immersive experience, valuable relationships and sense of individualism I gained from my travels (I replay the memories in my head everyday!). Overall, If you are seriously contemplating MEI, I would say go for it; grit up and prepare for a transformative journey you will certainly never forget!

I went to MEI this summer and it was the best decision of my life. I met multiple new friends, created great relationships with everyone on the trip, and learned multiple things throughout my trip. Even though it was hard to want to do work every day as it was summer, all of the curriculum that was provided was interesting making us all want to learn and complete the assignments assigned to us. Mei is a great experience that I have recommended to many of my peers and would recommend to anyone. It really was a life-changing experience that I wish I could go back to.

Throughout my school years, I always craved a unique education that didn't incite a drilling repetition of memorization, textbooks, and lack of open dialogue. I remember skimming the small paragraphs in my assigned readings when I took world history in 10th grade, a flame of desire to read the details between the lines igniting within me – to learn about the global past in the most engaging way possible. I wanted to live history, to walk through its hallways and stand in the locations the textbooks referenced.

After countless weeks of research and interviews, I came across MEI Academy. After being interviewed and accepted into the Big Year Program (Fall semester in Europe and Spring semester in Asia), I spent my junior year of high school living my dream: participating in experiential learning, academic coursework, and educational travel. I jumped from Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, to South Korea. Essentially, the world was my classroom, with academic lessons and lectures that were no longer taught in the same tedious classrooms with no student dialogue but taught on location in eleven countries throughout Europe and Asia with student discussions involved with the curriculum.

The teachers were friendly and passionate about their subjects, and I never felt intimidated to reach out for help. When it came to assignments and studying for midterms, my teachers were willing to spend hours assisting me and reading my work. Education was primarily taught in lecture style but was consistently entertaining, engaging, and interesting. Students were given MEI notebooks, which we used for notes.

Through my experience at MEI, walking through history and learning about the world from multiple viewpoints, I’ve become someone who wants to promote a holistic depth of understanding. I've gained and strengthened the skills necessary for college: independence, time management, communication, and presentation skills. Overall, I genuinely cannot recommend MEI Academy enough if you are looking to expand not only your world but your mind as well.

This was a life-altering experience, one with a new range of emotions I never knew existed. Not only did we get to see the most beautiful landscape, but had the most helpful and loving teachers that we could call family. With their help, we formed our own family that I will love endlessly. We all managed to not only learn from our teachers, but from the locals in the beautiful cities we encountered. It taught me to never take any moment in life for granted, and opened up a new perspective on how beautiful out world truly is, all from MEI.

I wanted to write a quick review from the parent perspective regarding the Modern Media program with Chris Mei as the teacher. Our daughter selected this program since she thought it would be a great opportunity to travel Europe, learn new media skills, make new friends, as well as prepare her to be more independent for university next year. Thanks to Chris she learned so many new amazing media skills that will be a huge asset in high school as well as university presentations! The MEI staff were amazing at making sure the kids were always safe, stayed at amazing hotels/locations and had the right amount of school work with downtime to explore each new location. We will be sending our youngest daughter on a MEI trip to ensure she also gets to enjoy an amazing life experience like her older sister. Well done MEI and a special thanks to Chris!!