Adventure is Everywhere: Exploring Week 1 of Our 2025 Programs!
- Madison Jennings
- May 23
- 4 min read
From Costa Rica to Cape Town to Florence to Greece, LeadAbroad students are making an impact in every city they set foot. Summer 2025 is jam-packed with many different programs offering students everything that makes traveling impactful: adventure, service and life-lessons. LeadAbroad aims to provide students a study abroad experience that allows for incredible friendships, renewed confidence, different perspectives and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Hi, I'm Madison - this summer's Public Relations and Copywriting Intern. You'll be hearing from me pretty frequently on our blog and Instagram as I dive into the our student's life-changing experiences abroad.
PRO Costa Rica
This week includes the completion of PRO Costa Rica Session 1. This program offers students the opportunity to build their resumes, gain medical hours and cross items off their bucket-list. Our PRO Costa Rica students served in the local clinics at the Maximo Institute; with help from trained professionals, students provided checkups to local children and adults while educating them on general healthcare topics. This program is not all work and no play... after 5 full days of service, our students depart for 5 days of adventure in the jungles of Arenal. Students were given the opportunity to go chasing waterfalls with a beautiful waterfall hike. Students then got a jump on the morning as they went from canyoning to ziplining through the beautiful jungles of Costa Rica. Our dare devils completed their trip with a whitewater rafting adventure and a final dinner (cue the tears). This trip served as such an amazing opportunity for our students interested in nursing, global health, pre-med, and more.
DIRECT Cape Town
With DIRECT Cape Town Session 1 coming to an end in only a few short days, it is a pleasure to reflect on what the Mother City had to offer. Our Cape Town students participated in a long list of adventures including but not limited to: sand boarding and quad biking through sand dunes, surfing waves in the bay, and hiking Lion's Head mountain as the sun rose. Our students were non-stop as they explored Cape Point, the southernmost tip of Africa; visited Boulder's Beach, home to a colony of South African penguins; and completed a city tour visiting Singnal Hill, Camps Bay and District Six Museum. As the dust settled from their adventures, students completed lessons with the LeadAbroad team regarding strengths, overcoming obstacles, values and more; students were then able to put their skills to the test in their service projects at Bokmakierie and their service with the Amy Foundation. Although the DIRECT Cape Town program offers tandem skydiving, zip lining and almost all activities that one can dream of, students are given the opportunity to take the Garden Route (and most did). The Garden Route is a three-day adventure add-on that gives students the opportunity to shark cage dive, visit an elephant sanctuary, go on a game drive safari and jump off of the world's highest commercial bungee bridge at Bloukran's.
DIRECT Florence
Our DIRECT Florence Session 1 Program is only half-way done, however, there are so many amazing adventures to share already. Our students took a trip to Giotto's Bell Tower where they were also able to visit Duomo Cathedral and the Baptistery. The students also enjoyed a day trip to one of Italy's most iconic villages: Cinque Terre. Students stopped in Manatola, ate lunch in Vernazza, hiked to Monterosso, and relaxed under striped umbrellas on the cliffside beaches.On their free day, students celebrated their newfound friendships by taking day trips together to nearby cities such as Pisa, Sienna, Lucca, and Cortona. Not only have our students enjoyed some of Italy' finest eats, they participated in the creation through a cooking class. Students learned the art of making handmade pasta and tiramisu in the most globally renowned country in the world. Between all this fun, the LeadAbroad team did manage to find time to complete lessons on strengths, values, service, and leadership. The fun in Florence is not done yet as students have much more to look forward to including a day trip to Tuscany.
DIRECT Greece
With DIRECT Greece Session 1 being half-way done, we are celebrating all that the students have already accomplished. Between completing lessons on values and leadership development with the LeadAbroad team and achieving amazing service work with Emfasis, our students have a lot to toast to. Our DIRECT Greece students worked with Emfasis, an organization centered around working with the homeless, to pack hygiene packs and educate themselves on what it means to be homeless. Between their lessons and service, our students have also travelled around Athens and Mykonos. The students have explored Ancient Corinth, bungee jumped over the Corinth Canal, visited the Vouliagmeni Bay and enjoyed Elia Beach. Staff and students have bonded over gelato watching the sunset and long, gorgeous hikes to the top of the Acropolis. The greatness in Greece is thriving as students prepare for a boat day, a day at Ornos Beach, and much more.
The fun abroad is just beginning as we have many exciting more trips and sessions to look forward to. Follow along as our students push their boundaries and set new limits. We will be sharing all of our student's accomplishments through our blog and social profiles: Instagram and Tik Tok.
Comments