Global Link has been inviting UPrep students to travel beyond Seattle for nearly 20 years. This April, 34 Upper School students participated. Director of Innovation and Experiential Education Brian Gonzales, oversees the program.

“Global Link provides our students the opportunity to travel in ways they’ve never traveled most likely before,” Gonzales said. “Students learn about themselves. They learn about each other. They learn how to navigate new experiences together.”

UPrep students left for Japan on April 3rd and returned to Seattle on April 13th.

Junior Jackie Takamiya had a “very fun” experience in Japan. Despite initial feelings she rated the trip 9 out of 10 stars.

“In the beginning, it felt a little bit long, but by the end I was like ‘I want to stay.’” Takamiya said.

Takamiya took advantage of immersing herself into the Keimei Gakuen school environment on the six days she visited.

“Even though I can’t understand Japanese at all, I enjoyed going to their classes and just listening in, not knowing what they’re talking about, but it was still fun,” Takamiya said.

Similarly, Dean of Faculty and art teacher Ty Talbot, who went to Japan alongside the students, shares how everyone immersed themselves in Japanese culture making it a 10 out of 10 star experience.

“I think a highlight was one day that we went and everybody got outfitted in kimonos,” Talbot said.

Talbot describes Kobe,  Japan as being a beautiful place with many cool events.

“We visited the shrine in Kobe, and it was the oldest shrine in Japan. So that felt like a really cool place,” Talbot said. “I think we went and visited a medieval castle one day that was really beautiful.”

Overall Takamiya loved her trip.

“It was so fun,” Takamiya said. “Going into it, I didn’t think I was gonna have as much fun as I did, but I would definitely recommend it.”

UPrep students embarked to Colombia their trip on April 7th and returned to Seattle on April 16th.

Sophomore Umulkhayr Abdilahi proclaimed Colombia to be the “best country” in Global Link. She rated her trip 10 out of 10 stars.

Abdilahi’s enjoyment caused her experience to feel too short.

“If somebody told me ‘stay one more month,’ I would say ‘yeah,’” Abdilahi said. 

The host moms coordinated a beach day, which was one of Abdilahi’s highlights. Experiences like this factored into her feeling cared for by her host family.

“They bought me gifts and took me out and whenever I wanted to go somewhere, they’d take me,” Abdilahi said. “There were a lot of good memories.”

As part of their trip, UPrep students visited the Colegio San José school in Barranquilla.

“The people are so kind and welcoming,” Abdilahi said. “They genuinely don’t care who you are, they will treat you as if you are their friend or family.”

Abdilahi visited the walled city of Cartagena.

“The architecture was so beautiful,” Abdilahi said. “It was so nice and there were so many vendors who wanted us to buy stuff.”

Abdilahi shares the benefits of participating in Global Link and believes the program has students’ best interest, at heart.

“You can always go traveling to like all these countries, but you will never meet people your age and you will never experience living and experiencing this with other people from that country,” Abdilahi said. “I think that’s what made my experience so fun.”

UPrep students left for Botswana on April 2nd and returned to Seattle on April 14th.

Senior Reagan DeLora described her stay in Botswana as an “amazing experience” and rated it 10 out of 10 stars.

Global Link provided DeLora with the opportunity to build bonds with her UPrep schoolmates.

“The people that were in my group, I didn’t know well. We’re all in different friend groups, so my main goal was to try to build connections,” DeLora said. “Bonding with my group and getting to see things that I’ve never seen before was super eye-opening.”

While in Botswana, DeLora felt enlightened and inspired.

“We went to this school in the poorest part of Botswana, and we got to read and hang out with the little kids,” DeLora said. “I think that was a really eye-opening experience, and I want to do something like that in the future.”

One unforgettable memory happened during her trip when UPrep students ventured on a hike.

“I think it’s kind of funny, but we almost got attacked by baboons,” DeLora said. “We came down and we saw baboons like running down from the mountain. It was so scary.”

DeLora’s Botswana experience led her to reflect on the benefits of Global Link.

“I feel like UPrep is such a small bubble, and it’s important for students, and even like teachers, to get out and see that there’s so much more in the world,” DeLora said. “I wish that it was longer, and I wish I could do it again.”

UPrep students ventured to Lithuania on April 3rd and returned to Seattle on April 14th.

Sophomore Noah Roth had an “amazing” experience in Lithuania and rated it 9 out of 10 stars. Roth, along with seven other students, visited the Ziburys Gimnazija school in Prienai.

“The first day we were there, the partner school was super welcoming,” Roth said. “We had a folk party. They fed us all these foods and like dances and everything, and that was also a lot of fun.”

Students embarked on excursions that included hiking and sight seeing.

“We spent a day walking around Vilnius, which is the capital, but right at the very end, the teachers went and did something on their own and just the seven of us got to walk around,” Roth said. “It was totally free reign for an entire day, which was awesome.”

Through Roth’s exploration of Lithuania, he observed some of the country’s characteristics.

“It was more of a religious culture, and there were churches everywhere,” Roth said. “In the cities and stuff, it felt very similar to the US but just like older. Everything has been around since the 1300s.”

Roth shares the advantages of participating in Global Link.

“The ability to go to entirely different cultures entirely different schools, see how people live and experience their own life in a totally different part of the world with totally different history and politics and culture, and just like experiencing something new is super important,” Roth said.