We are often asked how ARCC’s summer community service programs for high school students and gap year programs for high school graduates were conceived and created. We’ve been running summer programs for teens for over three decades. When we were founded, in 1983…
These reflections are written by ARCC Gap Semester students from the first month of ARCC’s Fall 2018 Gap Semester in Asia. This 90 day Gap program offers educational, volunteer, and community service opportunities as well as cultural immersion in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. The first month of this Gap Year Progam for these students was spent exploring the culture and history of China.
Here at ARCC we offer unique and collaborative summer service programs abroad for high school students. These range from improving access to clean water for Cambodian villagers by building bio-sand water filters to bringing solar light to homes in Tanzania. No matter the project, the goal is common: to form connections between our students and local communities, working together to create long-lasting change and maximize a positive impact.
The ceiling fans hummed steadily as they spun sending a light cool breeze through the car as it shook and creaked along the tracks. Passengers were stacked three high on light blue folding beds hinged to the wall. Strewn into the aisle is a sea of limbs and bodies stretched out on their respective bunks fast asleep. It was…
Traveling with Celiac Disease or other serious food allergies can feel daunting. I have lived abroad off and on for the past 10 years, but most recently spent the past 3 years in Central America. There was a time before this that I didn’t think traveling and living abroad would ever be possible given my diet restrictions.
I’m sitting in a tiny Costa Rican open-air cafe, drinking a well-needed, semi-cold Sprite. My large backpack filled with months worth of my personal belongings beside me. I’ve just ordered something off a laminated menu. I think chicken and rice, but honestly, I’m not quite sure, as I hardly speak any Spanish at all. Internally I’m kicking myself for the eight years of German I studied in school – Spanish would be pretty handy right about now.
