European tours to expose students to new cultures

Sahaj Datta | The Chronicle

When school trips are mentioned, a vacation in Europe is probably not the first to come to mind. Currently, there are 20 students, from rising freshmen to rising seniors, signed up to take an international tour of a myriad of European countries and coastlines this summer.

Student Activities Director Lori Howard and Middle School Activities Director Kerri Pieper will be leading a group of 14 students (as of February 11) across Europe’s Mediterranean coast to Italy, France and Spain over nine days at the end of June. Howard said this is the first time that the school district is promoting international travel to students.

“The district is the one that implemented the program, and they reached out to us looking for leaders to [take] the groups,” Howard said. “We chose to take a group because this is kind of what we do. We are always looking for things to help kids get involved in things, that’s our job. So this was right up our alley and definitely something that spoke to us.”

Pieper said that while designing the Mediterranean tour, they wanted to make sure this trip was unlike the other student trips being offered to students. She said that she and Howard did not want the students to have to pick between options that were too similar to each other and that they were experiencing a lot of places and activities for a lower price point.

“There are hundreds of tours,” Pieper said. “There are some that offer students community service, there are tours that are science-based, ones that are leadership-based. There’s even one in Japan that’s robotics-based. So there [were] a lot to choose from.”

Sophomore Dhanvi Deepak will be going on the Mediterranean tour this summer with Howard and Pieper. She said her main motivation to go on this trip is to spend time with her best friend, who will be coming with her, and to learn and see new places on her own.

“It’s the first time I’m going anywhere without my parents, especially internationally,” Deepak said. “I still depend on my parents, and I get scared of not being with them. I feel like this will force me to get out of that net of comfort and force myself to be independent.”

School psychologist Jeff Schlaeger will be leading his own group of students to a Global Leadership Summit in Berlin, Germany, and then to England and Ireland. He said the summit will allow students to solve real-world problems with other students from around the world by competing in teams to find the best solution.

“Each year of the conference is a different topic,” Schlaeger said. “Last year’s [conference] was about the renewal of water in the world, especially in third world countries. This year is about future preparation, which could be AI, and what social skills and emotional intelligence in the next five to ten years are we going to need in the workforce.”

After the three-day Leadership Summit, the students will be traveling to London, England and Dublin, Ireland. Schlaeger said although there are plenty of sightseeing opportunities for the students, there will also be activities that will be academically beneficial for them.

“There’s a global market in London; [the students are] going to meet with a few 

of the merchants and talk about the marketing of their product from start 

to finish,” Schlaeger said. “There’s a speakers forum, and there’s a role-playing type of thing in Dublin where [the students] are going to work on problem-solving.”

Junior Katherine Robiglio is one of the eight Mason students going to the Leadership Summit. She said that going there will allow her to fine-tune her professional communication and problem-solving skills.

“I would say the one thing I’m really excited for is being able to meet and work with students from across the world, and working together with those students to find solutions,” Robiglio said. “A lot of people can be impacted by our solutions, and it’s exciting to get that opportunity to work with those students in that way.” 

Robiglio said that although the summit will help her gain soft skills she can use in the future, and can help provide solutions for current global issues, there is also another personal benefit for her. She said this trip is also a pioneering step for her independence. 

“I am very much a homebody, so this time away is like testing out college and how I’ll feel being far away from my family and being alone and doing my own learning,” Robiglio said. “It’s like a college-life taster for me.”

Deepak said she signed up for her trip at the start of last year, so she thought the trip was far off. She said it did not hit her until recently that she truly was going on an international trip without her family and that she had to prepare for that.

“I’ve been researching the places we’re going so I can mentally prepare and know what to bring,” Deepak said. “I’ve been trying to get used to the environment, like you have to ask for still water otherwise, they’ll give you the carbonated stuff, and no one likes that.”

Pieper said she believes the biggest eye-opener for the students on the Mediterranean trip will be Cinque Terre, Italy, where they cannot enter by car, and their only method of transportation will be by foot or train. She said experiences like these are unique and let students step outside of the culture they are brought up in.

“[At] Mason, we have such a diverse community, we have the opportunity to learn about a lot of different cultures,” Pieper said. “Learning is great. [Our students] are 10 steps ahead of a lot of other districts, just because of that. However, with these opportunities and experiences, [they] get to dive in and be submerged into a culture. [They] really learn what the stereotypes are, what they aren’t, what these people really do, how their everyday life is.”

Schlaeger said this trip is important for students because they will get the opportunity to experience new perspectives and cultures. He said he hopes the students take what they learn on the trips and share it with their peers to promote an environment of acceptance and awareness.

“I’m excited to see what the students bring back from there,” Schlaeger said. “What are they going to bring back from this experience that can impact this community, whether it’s Mason High School, whether it’s Cincinnati, whether it’s where they’re going beyond?”