Program Reviews

This program really gave me the support and opportunity to grow both on a personal level and as a global citizen. Traveling in a group setting allowed me to figure out my place within that group and as a leader. ARCC has given me some of the most amazing experiences and the best friends I will continue to grow with in years to come! I can now go into college and the future excited about the independence I gained as well as the cultural education that comes with being exposed to new people and places. I have travelled with other gap year companies and ARCC is by far the best!

This was my second semester with ARCC. I had another amazing experience! I grew as a leader, as an individual, and as a student. The leaders were very supportive and connected with everyone on the trip. My group had a mix of some very active and less active members. In addition, since this trip was abroad, there was a mix of camping and staying at hostels. We stayed at many unique locations where we were able to get to know the locals while having an amazing experience at the place we were staying. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I would recommend this trip to anyone on the fence.

I loved my ARCC trip to South America; we got to visit so many amazing places and meet great people. I really enjoyed the cultural immersion aspect, ARCC has really strong connections to the local communities which allowed us to dive deep into the culture and learn so much from the people we met along the way. The staff was super supportive all around and the itinerary took us all around Peru and Patagonia to the most gorgeous places in nature. I highly reccomend ARCC for any student looking to learn more about themselves and the world around them.

This trip was absolutely amazing. We went to so many cool places and I made so many memories with my group. I loved getting to hike and see super cool mountains and ruins. This trip has changed my life. Opened my mind to so many new ways of thinking and broadened my view of the world. Getting to experience the cutures of where we went was truely an once in a life time experience and if given the opportunity I would do it again. I can’t stress how amazing this program is. I would highly recommend to all of my friends and anyone interested in a gap year.

The best part of the trip is the cultural experience and immersion. We got to explore a variety of unique aspects surrounding Chile and Peru such as the language, food, spirituality, and traditions. Overall it was a very diverse experience. I left feeling like I was able to get a well rounded view of the countries we visited and that we got to try a little bit of everything. For future participants, come prepared for altitude sickness with electrolytes, anti nausea medication, etc. and be sure to carefully filter water.

I had so much fun! I did a lot of research on program types with different countries and landed on this one because of the intersection of outdoor exploration, cultural experience, and language exposure. I couldn’t be more glad with my decision! I loved the variety of things we got to do and how the program pushed me to do and try things that I wasn’t used to. The only thing I think could have been improved was that during the first month in Chile we had a lot of down time and then trip wasn’t as fast paced as it could have been. I feel like they could have fit more activities in the time that we were there. That being said, however, I was there during the spring of 2021 (COVID) and things were constantly changing and we had limited accessibility and opportunities and I am incredible grateful I had the chance to go at all!

Best semester of my life. I was fully enrolled for my classes and registered to go back to college, but I am so glad I choose to do this program. I will remember this trip for the rest of my life, and will recommend this trip to any students interested in taking a semester or a year off. I made so many amazing connections and my leaders were the bomb.com and feel comfortable talking with them about anything I need too. The places we traveled too were amazing and the mountains I saw were incredible.

Very structured. There was not a lot of alone time; but if you have a good group then you should be fine. a lot of adventure and long days but it’s worth it if your down for anything. i liked the outfitters that we had because they were really nice and they made the experience better because we learned about what we saw and did. I am extremely happy that i came on this program because it was a once in a lifetime experience and I now know what I like, love, and dislike. It got me comfortable with being uncomfortable.

I can easily say that going to Hawaii with ARCC was one of the best decisions of my life. I made such close friends and was constantly laughing with my group. The people that ARCC attracts for its program are simply awesome. I was nervous going into the program as I had never been camping before, but I grew to love it and impressed myself with how many tent-related obstacles I conquered. This program pushed me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible, and I grew so much as a person as a result of that. I loved the limited technology aspect of this program, as it really helped the group bond on a deeper level and allowed us all to live in the present. It was so refreshing to be able to block out the outside world and appreciate everything that was right in front of me. I loved all of the partners that we worked with for service projects - ARCC did a great job of finding these awesome organizations and people. I can't express how much fun I had on this program, and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in experiential learning and is down for an adventure.

I had an amazing 2 months with ARCC in Hawaii. I was iffy about traveling due to covid, but everyone in the office was super helpful and easy to contact. I felt safe about covid the whole time as ARCC had a good plan set in place to help combat this uncertain time. I felt this program had the perfect balance of service and adventure as well as tent camping and cabins/hostels. I was able to foster some really great relationships between those in my group as well as my instructors and was able to learn a lot. The service we did was super exciting and meaningful, my favorite was doing aquaponics at UHMC :) the partners we worked with were all lovely and I was able to learn a lot from each and every one of them. I’d definitely recommend this program to anyone looking for a mix of service, adventure, and experiential learning!