Program Reviews

The way my life unfolded from the moment I decided to fill the application could not have been predicted. I had been on a plane 6 times in 20 years. Since Up with People, I have flown 27 times in 2 years.
The people and connections I made as a student define where I am today. This bond with cast mates, staff, and host families is so strong because it is sincere, the only reason behind it is true passion. UWP gave me the confidence to be who I belive I truly am, a "self" that did not fully come out in conventional settings such as school. It also made me realize that nationality is a starting point, but never the end, our country of origin is where we start our journey but we choose where it goes. The magic is, in UWP your cast mates also go through this and discover this with you, so you'll find the most like-minded people you'll ever meet.

I participated in the Up with People program when I was 19. I grew up in a small town that did not have much diversity, and it was incredible to find myself part of a group that represented 20 different countries! We got to travel to three distinctive cultures- across the USA, Mexico, and Japan, and stay with host families to really explore and gain an understanding for the communities we were in. We got to do community service and have educational workshops that have helped me throughout the rest of my education and my professional life as well. The show was also an amazing opportunity to grow and master skills like public speaking and confidence. The people I met during my Up with People experience are still my friends, even all these years later. This program is truly the experience of a lifetime!!!

if you like traveling, volonteering, performing a profesional show, meet so many wounderful people, getting to know different culture and religions from yours this is your best shot!!
Up wth People changed and is still changing my life. it is more then traveling because when you end your experience you have families and friends all around the world!
meanwhile you are traveling, being hosted for the local families, volonteering and performing a show, with Up with People, you have also the chance to apply for internships, so this program offers you a personal and a professional growing meanwhile you are traveling!
this program is unique and it does not stop after the semester abroad, all your friends will be always be there and you will have a home in so many different places all around the world!!

Up with People has 20,000 alumni who would in an instant tell you that they would instantly travel again as an "Uppie" if they had the opportunity. Why, do you think, would they go back to the early mornings, late nights, long rehearsals, small meals, no freedom, lifestyle that is Up with People? Because it is so much more than that.

Up with People is so much more than the challenges that it presents to participants. Through these challenges, Up with People breaks you down, but then builds you up again. It shows you how human you are, but then shows you how invincible you can be. It shows you how much more you can do as a human and it shows you how to embrace these challenges and conquer them.

My tour was the tour of challenges and plan changing. My first show on the road was in front of 3,000 alumni in Orlando, Florida at Walt Disney World. Then, we had to take two days to get the entire cast to Aguascalientes. I arrived late at night to my host family, but some cast members had to stay in a hostel that had limited beds so they slept in what we call a "cuddle puddle" on the floor. That same week, our stage caught on fire and our show was delayed by almost an hour - but during that entire time, my cast was playing games behind the stage in order to get pumped up for the show in the midst of the chaos. On the way to Zacatlan, Mexico, what was supposed to only be a 14 hour bus ride turned into an 18 hour bus ride that arrived at midnight to our host families, but we all put on a smile and enjoyed their performance for us when we arrived. In Liechenstein, we found out that we were no longer going to be able to go to Brussels because of safety concerns following the Paris attacks, so we put together a video project and impacted that city right where we were. We went to Antwerp and then woke up at 2:30 in the morning to go to Rome, Italy. This week, the entire cast combated a case of lice.

When I look back on these challenges of the past six months, I think of all the amazing stories and moments that came out of them. Looking out into the audience in Orlando. Greeting the hostel group with hugs the next morning to encourage them. Doing a mini-greenroom behind a burning stage. Singing "High School Musical" on the bus to pass the time. Showing the world that "We are Human." Seeing the Colosseum for the first time. Bonding with my roommate while I checked her head for lice.

These are all moments and feelings that you get to have in Up with People. Up with People is a monster, but not in a negative way. It is a monster that shows you who you are inside. Shows you that when a challenge comes, you can overcome it. Only in Up with People can you face these challenges with 100 of your best friends. When these things happen, there is a team who is there already problem solving. Already moving forward. Acting. Doing. Inspiring.

There has not been one day in Up with People that I was not inspired by someone in my cast. Up with People tears you down, builds you up, and gives you little gifts in the forms of your cast mates and staff members. These are people who I will remember for the rest of my life as a part of my family around the world. People like my Production Manager who inspires me every day with his patience and positivity. People like my cast mate from Arizona who never fails to greet others with a smile, even when she wants to fall asleep or is aggravated.

All in all, this is a hard program, but it is worth it. It is so worth it. Up with People is a program that if you survive, you will be on cloud nine. You will learn how to embrace the difficult things and life and will be able to pull out tools to change the things you don't like about your world.

There is a quote by Maya Angelou that goes "If you don't like your world, change it. If you can't change it, change your mind." This quote embodies Up with People because Up with People gives you a world. It gives you things that you're going to want to change, and the opportunity to change them. It also gives you the opportunity to practice patience and kindness if you cannot change them. Through this, you become a better person than when you first arrived. You become stronger, more patient, more kind, more thoughtful, and more passionate. You become yourself.

I think one of the most unique aspects were the surprise concerts that we were able to give in order to raise money. Performing like a rockstar in front of thousands everywhere around the world is something you dont do every day. Once we were in Taipei for example we had the luvk to arrive on the 101st birthday of the nation, which is a big date (the tower is not called Taipei101 for no reason). We were able to perform in front of 5000 people in a huge stadium and even got to meet the president of the country. Nothing you do every day!

This program and the experience I got here helped me grow tremendously, both personally and professionally. Cultural exchange, leadership, community service, performing arts and traveling not only gave me an experience of lifetime but helped me broaden my horizon of understanding on global issues, leadership and development. Moreover, I got to meet 110 friends from 21 different countries and lived with 15 host families around the world. Needless to say, the world has become a very small, beautiful and bright place for me.

I see the Up With People Program as an opportunity that could encourage young people to make the best of themselves and prepare them to carry out their dreams. Thus, Up With People is a rewarding and life changing experience for your young people as well as host families and others who come to the shows, creating a unique opportunity to experience other cultures and establish a lifelong relationships.
I did Up With People because I see the program as an opportunity that could prepare me and enable me realize my dream and potential to give back to other as people have given to me.
Being a host family in Up With People enables you experience a new family, expose you to new cultures and creates a lifelong memories and potential relationships between you and the student(s).
I strongly encourage other young people to travel with Up With People because the program promotes mutual cultural understanding, brings different nationalities together to share ideas and compare values. Also creating global unity through relationships.
The message in Up With People Shows is relevant because it has a real life application of what the organization is about. I therefore encourage the general public to be a part of the shows.

I decided to take a gap semester during college to travel with UWP. I had already had many opportunities to travel and study in other countries, but UWP was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. I traveled through 6 countries during my semester, living with host families and doing community service projects. I ate food and went places I wouldn't have experienced otherwise. I got to perform in a professional musical production on a world tour, promoting hope and peace and unity to thousands of people. I interacted with people who did and did not speak my native language, and I was pushed out of my comfort zone quite a few times. But my cast mates became my family on the road, and we all supported each other through the good times and the more challenging ones. I now have friends and families around the world that I will be able to visit for the rest of my life. I would recommend UWP to anyone interested in traveling, learning about new cultures, performing, music, and/or community serviced. The program has something for everyone!

Up with people have change my life in so many ways and I considered this as one of the best choices I've ever made, this program made me realize that the world is not only in my country or continent, this world is full of people and places I could never imagine existing. I got the opportunity to travel to different places all around the world, in each part of the world I visited I got the opportunity to leave a mark and an inspiration on someone's life that can potentially make the world a better place. Also now I can say that I have more than 120 houses all over the world because of all the connections I made with this program. In my resume I can write that I've done more than 400 hours of volunteer work around the world and that I've done International marketing in 5 different cities in Mexico as well as managing a world tour show in 4 different countries in Europe because of the internship program. And of course last but not least I got the chance to perform for thousands and thousands of people in stunning places and mainly making an impact

I studied abroad twice in college as well as doing Up with People (UWP). What makes UWP stand out is how MUCH is fit into every day. With opportunities to continuously be moving ( a different city and host family each week, 3-5 countries total in the tour in different regions of the world) - my learning and exposure to people and food and cultures was so varied and exciting. I volunteered with over 40 NGOs, and saw firsthand what works for communities and what doesn't. Staying with host families in each city gave me many ideas on what I want my home to be like, and helped me to really experience the place I was, and meet people who were genuinely interested in learning about me and sharing their culture with me. And the friends I met, my fellow cast members, have become my closest network, my lifelong friends to lean on. This program changed my whole outlook on life for the better.