Adoption from China
Last summer I had an awesome experience that I will never forget. It wasn’t just any other trip, I went to China! Our purpose in going was not like most vacations. I went with my parents to pick up...
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Santa Fe: Spain in the Heart of America
Bright colors, festive music, and delicious smells greet me as I step into the plaza. An old man in a serape leans down and speaks in Spanish to a young boy, who is showcasing his wooden handicrafts...
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IT”S A TRIP TO A GOOD LIFE
Seeing the crowd lined up at the cruise-ship terminal in Venice, I wasn’t sure whether my mother booked a family vacation or an extended stay at...
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“Travelers on a road”.
I once heard an ancient proverb that said, “only he who has traveled the road knows where the holes are deep”. As these words slowly echoed across my mind, neither a sense of inspiration nor understanding...
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California Family Vacation
After spending a week visiting our relatives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, my family and I boarded a plane to California before going back to our home state of Alabama. Sight-seeing California was a much...
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The Power of the Pen
It is amazing what the power of the pen can do inclusively, it granted me the opportunity to go on an expense free trip to New York and Washington D.C
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Two Weeks in Turkey
From the thirtieth of July to the seventeenth of August 2009, I was in Turkey, or more accurately the city of Istanbul. My mom’s childhood friend Orhun Ãtavdar founded an art museum. Half of my time...
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Beauty of Simplicity
“Gracias” I replied, as a dinner of unknown fruits and vegetables rolled in a banana tree leaf was placed into my timid hand. I flashed a reassuring smile as the native Ecuadorians anxiously...
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My European Adventure
Our parents were saying goodbye and crying like we were being sent off to war. I could not stop smiling. THIS IS IT! The sophomore class Euro trip was finally commencing. It was almost unreal. Take...
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The Pennsylvania Hills
I learned to measure milk in a half an eggshell, found doppelgangers exist, fell in love with rollercoaster-like land . . . and decided family reunions had possibility. I truly tried to avoid my...
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The Piece of Puzzle Found in Japan
Stepping into a room filled with nakedness, I wondered to myself just what I got myself into. Japanese ladies were walking in every direction, into steams of hot baths and scorching hot spring water....
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Traveling for Freedom from Ignorance
It’s no secret that America is the queen of affluence, if not the self-proclaimed queen of all she knows. Affluence is one sin, but far worse is ignorance, and narrow mindedness....
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Learning Adaptation, European Style
In America, we are lucky enough to have more opportunities and more freedom than many around the world. However, this often leads us to have a near blinding air of superiority and lack of understanding...
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Sacrifices For Others
After 40,000 houses flooded and 1,400 people lost their lives, a coach bus filled with 32 eager passengers left a church from the small town of Melrose, Wisconsin on June 10, 2006. I was one of these...
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My trip to Costa Rica
At age 14, I was chosen to attend the Costa Rica Rainforest Outward Bound School (CRROBS) Girl Scout’s Service Challenge (http://www.crrobs.org/courses/itinerary_gs_sc.html). The 15-day expedition...
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Donkey Nightmare in Greece
In 2008, thirty-six California Central Valley teenagers stepped off a ferry into a new adventure. There was Greece, the country...
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The Epic Youth Group Camping Trip
From June 26-28, 2008, my church’s youth group went camping at Sturgeon Lake. We stayed at a private cabin owned by our...
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Obama’s Inauguration
It was January 19th, 2009. The countdown had begun. A group of thirty students, myself included, had arrived in Washington D.C. the day prior to the inauguration. Everywhere there was talk...
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Oh Canada
"Welcome to Canada it's the maple leaf state, Canada, oh Canada, it's great! The people are nice and they speak French too..."
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Nigeria
It's quite difficult for someone so young to understand why a place they have...
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The Spirit of South Africa
This summer, I received an opportunity quite unlike any I could have ever imagined. Discovery Education is launching student adventure tours to various countries all over the world, and I found myself...
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Foreign But Warming Experiences In Istanbul
I was selected to participate in a summer exchange program to Turkey through my mother's company, Evonik, this past summer. When I arrived in Ankara, my host family was so warm, and my Turkish sister,...
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Everything is Not What It Seems
A couple of hundred miles off the west coast of Ecuador, the Galápagos Islands are little pieces of paradise situated in the Pacific Ocean. As my family and I left our cruise ship, “The Ambassador”,...
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Three months of reality
George Bernand Shaw once wrote, “the reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.” Up until the summer of 2008, when...
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Peruvian Glue
Daydreaming of trees filled with birds of every color in the spectrum and the prospect of encountering exotic, undiscovered species, I and thirty others from my school ventured into the Amazon, thrilled...
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In the Mountains of Colorado
While the rest of the world took exciting trips to London and Paris, my mother decided it would be more fun to stay within the United States. Colorado was the place she had always wanted to visit. I...
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A Glimpse of Madison, Wisconsin
My alarm clock’s nagging and monotonous beeping blared at six in the morning on Labor Day this year. Getting up eagerly, I exhibited a deep contrast to my usual routine of hitting the snooze button....
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Unexpected Paradise
It was the summer of 2006. My parents decided it was time for another family vacation to Mexico, and yes, I was going, no exceptions. See, every time my parents plan a “family vacation,”...
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My perspective alternation of Mexico
Many adventures bring miraculous experiences and unforgettable memories to an individual. These events are capable of marking a person’s life and recognize the start of a new beginning. Interacting...
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What I Missed In India
When I travel to India with my family...
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Teaching in Zambia
As I departed from the plane, I left all my worries and concerns in my chair. Walking into the beautiful morning in the Africa sun made me realize that I was...
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Black Mountain
Even before my crew of 13 (nine boys and four dads) had arrived at Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico, we’d heard the stories of Black...
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The Tear Shaped Island Near India
Sandwiched between two long flights on Cathay Pacific was a trip in Sri Lanka. It was not quite a vacation; it was a mission. I had founded a club called Books Over Seas to send gently used textbooks...
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Trinidad West Indies
Walking through security, taking of my belt and shoes, I was clear but uneasy entering the...
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Eyes Open to the Caribbean
As the sunset down over horizon and the Carnival Conquest sailed off to the next destination, it all seemed to catch up and crash down on me like an avalanche on Mount Everest. It was over. We were...
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Travel – “Are We There Yet”
Feelings of excitement washed over me as we pulled out of the driveway, our SUV piled with skim boards, towels, sand castle equipment, and bags bursting at the seams. I figured in approximately ten...
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The Children’s Ranch
It was April 2, 2009 and my mission’s team of 12 started out from Detroit Metro Airport. Two flights and seven long hours later, I was in Mazatlan, Mexico, packed into an old, rundown van and...
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Living History
When I walked into my AP U.S. History class the first day of school, I never would have believed that I would have found some use for the knowledge learned in the class. It was May, when we decided...
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Awake in a Dream: Scotland
There is a beauty that is universal. The beauty of eyes opened: cultures explored, and eternity grasped. Someone once asked me, “Of the man waking from a dream, and the man still in one, who...
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Dry Tortugas National Park
Seventy miles off the coast of Key West in the Florida Keys lies an unknown paradise that is rich in history, nature, and architecture. It is called the Dry Tortugas National Park and it is the best...
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A Perfect Tiramisu
As the rain outside slowly dwindled away we walked into a preserved castle, tucked gently away in Italy. Upon entering, the shadows of people danced upon the walls as they talked in hushed voices at...
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An unforgettable Journey
One of the most memorable vacations I’ve had in the recent years was my trip to Yosemite National Park this summer. My family goes to Yosemite each year with Mario, my dad’s friend, and...
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Italian Suprise
Rolling hills and death-defying slopes hinted with lush green grass and the multi-colored buildings. This sight cannot be captured in the United States, but only in the beautiful...
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visiting a concentration camp
I have traveled internationally quite often over my life, but one of the most educational and emotional trips I’ve taken was to Germany...
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Japan Essay
I loved Japan before I visited there-- loved their video games, TV shows, martial arts, and amazing sword fights. But my only...
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Teaching in Taiwan
“Okay, okay,” I answered, obediently following the herd of girls, ages 7 to 11, out of the small classroom and into the sweltering summer heat of Taiwan. Although the...
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China: To the Other Side of the World, and to the Other Side of Me
I’ve always wondered about the possibility of having two real homes, and looking back at that moment, my heart couldn’t have felt happier to...
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Disney World
In my sophomore year, spring 2008, at East Detroit High School, I had an extraordinary opportunity. As a member of our marching band I went to perform at and tour Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Our...
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A TRIP THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET
When I was in the tenth grade a selected few students in my class took a trip to the historical Civil War battle site: Gettysburg. I was 15 at the time, and we stayed at Farnsworth...
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The Great Wall and Beyond
It all started on June 10, 2009. I had just loaded my luggage onto the bus and said goodbye to my family. It was finally time to start on our voyage to a new and unknown world. The...
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Bella Italia
I have dreamed of traveling to Rome, the Eternal City, for years. I always longed to...
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Visiting a Homeland
In December of 2008, my mom and I took a trip halfway around the planet and to an entirely different world. We visited my parent’s home country of Bangladesh after almost...
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Freezing Hands, Warming Spirits: My Experience at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama
Twenty-eight--it seems such an innocent number.That is, unless you were actually there in Washington, D Twenty-eight--it seems...
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Machu Picchu
I held the seat in front of me in a white-knuckle grip as our tour bus negotiated the switchbacks and hairpin turns necessary to ascend from the valley town of Aguas Calientes to our destination in the...
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My Northern Michigan Paintball Trip
In the final weeks before our senior year, my friends (Jon, Phil, Denton, CJ, and Jeffery) and I decided we needed to celebrate the close of summer...
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My Paradise
What do you think of when you hear the word paradise? Do you think of lying on a beach in Hawaii? What about taking a cruise to Jamaica? Before, when I heard it, that’s what I thought about,...
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Bienvenue En Haiti
In February of 2009, I learned several things about my life, through a trip to Haiti. First and foremost, Haiti is a poor country. Over 80% of the people are unemployed, and have...
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