When Teen Summer Exploration Isn’t Enough

Volunteering for a teen summer camp abroad is challenging and intensely rewarding.  It will take you out of your comfort zone and put you on a path to discovering more about yourself and your world than you could find in a summer spent in a fast-paced world of convenience and easy access to comfort. If you aren’t sure if the international teen summer camps offered by VISIONS Service Adventures have something to offer you, consider why some of our past students have chosen our service adventures.

Experience a culture rather than studying it. There is no substitute for being IN the world and experiencing the world. Read as many books as you like, but until you eat the food, listen to the music, hear the nuance of local language, share stories and laugh with the children within a community, you have not truly gained an understanding of or appreciation for another culture. Our programs place you inside local communities where you work side by side with local families, experiencing their ways of life and the daily rhythms of their lives, seeing the world through their eyes and their perspective.

Create change. VISIONS understands the importance of change on a local level.  When you travel with us on a teen volunteer summer program, you work on a project from beginning to end and see the results of your hard work, including the impact it has on the community and the relationship to community life.  VISIONS is an incredibly rewarding experience that will forever change your understanding of what’s possible when people come together to work toward a common goal.

Enhance your language skills.  We’re living in an increasingly global community where language barriers must be surmounted.  A teen summer camp abroad gives you the opportunity to spend time fully immersed in a foreign language, relying on Spanish or French in your daily communications.  Formal language education is incomplete without the critical counterpoint of learning regional dialect and colloquial languages in a real world setting.

Colleges and employers value volunteerism.  When an admissions counselor or potential employer learns that you have participated in a teen summer camp abroad, they will take note. It takes commitment to put your life on hold to serve others and demonstrates your maturity, sense of responsibility and a global awareness.

Discover new depths within yourself.  You will learn new skills, face new challenges, and perhaps find that you can overcome adversity.  You will learn that there is far more to you than even you were aware of once you step outside the comfort zone of your everyday life. You’ll also discover the universal power of compassionate response to the needs of others less fortunate than you.

Volunteering abroad can change your life on many levels. It can touch your heart, stir your soul, give you new technical skills, improve the lives of others, and enhance your future.  Perhaps the question should be, “Why wouldn’t you volunteer abroad?”