Verto Education

This was my first time traveling outside of the U.S. and it was life changing. This trip was a great way to make new connections because you never know who you will meet along your journey. I had met individuals that were all so unique in their own ways and so full of knowledge wether they be my teachers, my cohort, guides, or even natives. Taking into account what these amazing people have taught me, they left me with a new purpose. Because of this trip I now have a new initiative which is to start my own business that will make a change.

I found out about Verto Education at a time in my life when I really needed to know that there was another way for me to begin life after high school. I feel so lucky to have been able to travel with Verto as it was a truly challenging and rewarding experience that made me a better and more educated person. Not only is it great for earning college credit and learning in new and strange environments, but it's extremely fun and you'll meet so many great people that become so important to you. Every experience is probably one you've never done before and one that you'll remember forever.

My daughter was in Fiji, when COVID-19 became a worldwide concern. The staff at Verto handled the situation beautifully. 100% concern was for getting all of those kids home safely. I was communicated with during every step and they made us feel as comfortable as possible! In addition, when she got home classes continued as planned and every effort was made to provide virtual experiences. There was a unity provided by Verto team; They made lemonade out of lemons. I know my daughter truly enjoyed her experience. She made an incredible connection with many of the staff members and students. She was very sad when she had to come home and even sadder the day virtual classes ended. She has always had a love for travel, but this has made her more eager to travel the world.

The Verto team was very supportive and fun the entire semester, I had so many crazy and immersive experiences when we got to visit villages in Fiji and white water rafting in New Zealand. The classes and teachers were very interesting and informative. One of my favorite memories was being in Nausori village with my host family and learning all about the fijian culture and traditions. One day we woke up at sunrise and hiked to the top of the mountain with our host brother, on our last night there he took us to his farm and we had a bonfire on the edge of a cliff, it was one of the coolest things I've ever done.

I had already attended college for a year before I’m went on my Verto semester. The summer leading up to the semester took great preparation, for I have a lot of medications to handle due to being a heart transplant recipient. Nevertheless I was able to spend the 3 months in the beautiful South Pacific doing crazy things like bungee jumping and skydiving with no medical issues.
I would say that you have to be a very adaptable and patient person on this experiential learning journey. Most of the locations you go to are very rustic and remote. That be said these places offer any extreme amount of natural beauty and culture. Since it was such a small class size (13 students) we took the classes week by week, but it was sometimes hard to get work done with the amount of traveling we did. Often times during our down time we had to choose between doing work, catching up on sleep, or attending to our mental health. The semester was jammed packed with activity after activity, great meal after great meal, and kind and compassionate programs leaders that I am still in touch with today. I think about the everything that made that trip special to me on the daily. The strongest thing that I took away from my time in the South Pacific is having a better sense of the environment and cultural relativism.