My teachers were some of the most wonderful and understanding people I have ever come across in life. I would say that I got lucky, however, after two summers traveling the world with Global Summers Academy, I can see that every teacher working on the program is equally as kind and knowledgeable as the ones that made me first fall in love with the program.
My English teacher was one of the kindest, funniest, well rounded teachers I had ever met and I was one of the lucky few who got to experience her joy in every class. She would have us do and talk about things no other teacher would have dared to express and opened my eyes to the power I may hold as a literary-minded individual. Because we were reading Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, our teacher would analyze our dreams and force us to put ourselves in the position of the characters by connecting it to our real lives, and pose the question of “what is the worst thing you’ve ever done for love?”. She had everyone in our class answer her question, even answering it herself and her answer was shocking and hilarious though something we swore not to repeat so it will remain anonymous for now. Class felt like a massive friendship circle everyday and I would wake up overjoyed and ready to see what she had in store for that day’s class, something that would rarely happen at home as I would have usually much rather stayed in bed. Our teacher truly made us all believe in ourselves, pushing us to our limits, keeping us in check all while making us feel so special. During the essay portion of the course, I came up with a theory about the text we were reading, which I had thought was “stupid” and “overdone” at the time. When I had brought the theory, my teacher’s face completely lit up and she explained to me how she had never thought of that theory before and how proud she was of me for pushing past my limits. My teacher made the program more special than I could have imagined and reignited the passion I have for writing, for which I am ever so grateful.
My second summer of Global Summers Academy, my English teacher was equally as strong minded and warm as the year prior. We got to learn about our books by connecting them to different forms of Greek Mythology (as we were in Greece). We even had pool-side classes with swim breaks!
Global Summers is so unique because our teachers are so versatile, they are our mentors, our friends, and our guides. They didn’t just help you to understand their course, they understood you. It is so unique to have people as wonderful as GSA teachers helping you learn and grow through this crazy adventure, but I couldn’t be any more grateful for mine.
Thank you to Student Ambassador Gwyneth D. for writing this blog post!
