Program Reviews

When we were staying in Ecuador for 5 weeks, we taught english in a local high school in a small village called San Jose de Minas. I taught with another girl and a teacher from the school, and we always had the same classes. The students were between 11 and 15. We taught about five classes per day, sometimes even maths, which was really fun. One of my best memories about it is, how the students would get super excited when we would enter their classroom, and wouldn't stop asking us for help when they had to do individual work. Seeing their progress of learning was amazing. During the breaks they would ask us to play football or volleyball with them, and they would always greet us. It was an amzing experience. In the afternnons we had seminars where we learned about education and challenged our assumptions. One of my favorite seminar was called "Are students and teachers equal?". Beforehand, we had to do readings in shape of articles or books, and afterwards, at the seminars, we would al discuss it. It is more than just travelling and volunteering, but learning/studying abroad. I can highly recommend this program.

TBB was the coolest experience of my life. It was so much fun and my group, including my program leaders, became a second family to me. Still TBB is definitely not a vacation, the program is very challenging and only the right fit to people who are willing to invest a lot of learning effort. If that is the case though, you will experience much personal growth through your trip, many of your assumptions will be challenged and you will come out of the experience very inspired and motivated.

In general I felt that I have learnt a lot from TBB even though there were ups and downs throughout the course of the program. Yes, people got caught drinking alcohol and yes people were caught doing marijuana which led to their expulsion, but overall I think for those of us that remained we were all honest and truthful and just plain love one another.

I guess I will start with Ecuador and how I felt in Ecuador. I felt the time in San Jose de minas was really good and allowed us to understand the local Ecuadorian culture, but I did not really like Mindo all that much because there were so many insects and so many little things that really irritated me. I also felt like the San Jose de Minas was a good place to begin our journey, and thinking back on San Jose de Minas now seems like it was a long time ago and even though I was not implicated in the drinking events at Pataqui, I think that it was just important to acknowledge the wrongdoings that we had on the trip. I really enjoyed our time in Ecuador because I felt we really connected with our host families and being able to understand that really was a highlight for me.

I also really enjoyed going up Macchu Picchu, even though the hike was really tough at times and having to bear the cold in the tent, I felt like it was so rewarding once we arrived at Macchu Picchu or like the township of Aguas Caliente was really nice.

I also really enjoyed Cochabamba and all the Cochabambinos that we met . I really enjoyed everything in Cochabamba probably because it was a modern city I guess maybe because I really enjoy being in a city. I felt like the Mizque trip could have been shortened to just like a couple of days not going for the whole week, and also the Jardin Botanico Daniella didn't really give us something really solid to work on for the entire week really and we were just mostly shovelling dirt and stuff like this which was really meaningless. I mean yes we want to help but we want to feel like things we are doing are important and meaningful. Thats the way I feel.

It's been over a year now since I graduated from Thinking Beyond Borders, but I am still an active member of my group's community, as well as the larger and bountiful TBB Alumni community. As I go through the typical ups and downs that life throws at us, I wonder how I could do it without TBB. Without learning what it meant to challenge my assumptions. Without the guidance of my TBB Program Leaders and Mentors, whom I am still in close contact with. Without learning what it meant to love radically--both others and myself. Sitting on my campus lawn, I still have moments when I realize that a lesson from TBB has finally kicked in. It takes a long time to process such an extraordinary experience, and it truly is a gift that keeps on giving. I am who I am today because of TBB. I am strong and loving and resilient and honest and humble and growing because of TBB and the people I met on it. This is not a trip for those who just want to "see the sights." This is a trip for those who want to learn radical love, vulnerability, humility, reflection (and also "see the sights").

It has taken me a couple of months after graduating from the Thinking Beyond Borders Global Gap Year program to begin to get an idea of how I could write this review. It's absolutely easy, and true, to say that this program is phenomenal. Every day, I question myself about what I'm doing in ways I probably wouldn't have learned without TBB, and I become a better person each day because of it. This program revolves not only around traveling, but is focused intently on personal growth and consciousness about the world around me. The main takeaway from TBB is that I feel like once I graduate college in a couple years, it will be easy to say "wow there were so many other colleges that maybe would have fit my values and learning style better" but looking back, I can honestly say I wouldn't want to go on any program other than Thinking Beyond Borders. It's an incredible program that will challenge you in every way possible- physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, religiously, but I now have a greater sense of who I am because every part of me was challenged. Also, with the different aspects of international development we studied, it absolutely changed my interests in the world and what my major will be in college. If someone had told me a year ago that I would want to major in environmental studies/sustainability and global issues, I probably would have laughed. The growth this program creates in each person that graduates from it is incredible, and I wish I could go on another gap year! If you have the chance to go on TBB, do it and don't look back. It's the best decision I ever made!

The South America Gap Semester with Thinking Beyond Borders was the best time of my life. For those who do not know what it is, it is an educational gap year program that involves traveling to four countries: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and the US. In Ecuador, the focus of the program is Education. I worked with the rest of my group in a school in San José de Minas, Ecuador, teaching the children English. We stayed with host families in San José de Minas and the people there are genuinely some of the nicest people I have ever met. I improved my Spanish massively and had some fantastic times with my host family and the group. After, Ecuador, you go to Peru to hike Machu Picchu. We did the Salkantay Trek which was fantastic. It is truly incredible seeing Machu Picchu. Surreal. After Peru, you go to Bolivia. We stayed in Cochabamba, Bolivia with host families and during our weeks there we worked on three different projects. My favourite project was one focused on permaculture. Cochabamba is awesome. It is a proper city, so there are plenty of things to do. I went to the gym regularly and went out to eat often. It's great in Bolivia because everything is super cheap. Towards the end of Bolivia, we travelled to Salar de Uyuni. The salt flats were the most beautiful natural phenomenon I have ever seen. Being with some great people and watching the sun set on the Salar was an experience I will never forget. Finally, after Bolivia, we went to Washington DC to speak to several organizations such as the World Bank, the Peace Corps and NRDC about how they see development and what they do to tackle some of the issues we saw during our trip. The program is just fantastic and the people that sign up for this sort of stuff are super interesting. You make great friends, learn a lot about yourself and the world and have great fun while doing it. Do not think twice about signing up. It is legit.

This trip was incredible on a lot of levels. I not only learned about myself but I learned about the world. I met so many incredible people and each place was so unique and special. I really want to keep up these connections from TBB and maybe visit these places again one day. I think that the organizations that we work with have really helped me grow and be aware of the issues from around the world. One thing I would change is to update the books and readings, sometimes they were very out-dated.

I have learned more on this year than I ever could have anticipated. There were definitely times when I missed home, but getting super close with my host families, having adventures like skydiving and bungee jumping, participating in really reflective conversations with my friends at any hour of the day or night in and out of seminar, really distracted from feelings of homesickness. My perspective has widened drastically and I am so much more ready to go to college than I was before I left. I highly recommend this program to anyone who is interested.

Thinking Beyond Borders is hands-down the most self-aware, balanced, and socially/culturally conscious gap year program I have ever heard of. I have loved every moment of my experience, from connecting with my indigenous Tsa'chila host family in Ecuador, to shadowing health care professionals in the townships of South Africa. I will forever cherish the stories I've collected and the friendships I've forged over the past 7 months. No matter what your background or your interests, as long as you are a passionate and curious person who seeks out learning, you will love this program. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Before TBB all I new for sure was that I needed TBB. I knew, that it would be the thing that allow me to become more of who I am and that I would be doing that with a potentially amazing group of people in places far away and exotic. Like many things I knew these things were filled with assumptions. Mostly correct in how amazing TBB was, but I didn't truly understand what I would learn to be. That I would learn to understand the world for more of what it was, that I would understand who I am and how the personal and the social fit together. That I would learn to question everything, assumptions everywhere.

I can only say that it has been the best "gap time" if my life.