#summeropportunities

[gradsiren]

“𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 – 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐧”

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[jifmentors]

Have you always wanted to travel abroad but you don’t have a passport?  Do you want to learn another language to the point of fluency?  What if I told you there was a place that you could do both?

Concordia Language Villages are immersive language camps that teach students through classroom instruction and cultural experiences right in the woods of Minnesota (exact location varies on the program, but most are in Bemidji).  They offer 15 languages (Arabic, Chinese, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish) and a variety of environments for learning.

Last summer I had the opportunity to attend the Spanish village, El Lago del Bosque (ELdB), for a month.  With only a year of Spanish under my belt, I took advantage of every aspect of the camp and can now read, write, and speak Spanish fluently.  The camp teaches to every level of ability, from those who never had a foreign language class to those who were already fairly fluent in the language.  They hire native speakers as well as some from the U.S. who became fluent, so you could be taught by someone from Argentina or from not too far from your own hometown.  There are two week programs, and four week credit programs, but I will only speak for the credit programs (the two weekers did very similar things but in a more condensed version).

The first step to learning a new language was to choose a name from that culture.

This name is your identity for the next month, and helps make the experience more realistic.  After all, you likely wouldn’t be in China with a bunch of Katherines or Johns.  Then, for the next two days, you are tested for your language ability.  This is done so that you can be correctly placed in a grammar class, with a difficulty not too easy but not too brain-straining at the same time.  This placement is not definite!  I was placed in a lower level due to my lack of prior instruction, but I asked to move up a level for more of a challenge.  I highly suggest doing a similar move if you feel you are ready for it.  It was definitely a lot of work, but I learned much more by doing so!

The following weeks are filled with anything one could imagine and more.  Each day was introduced with a telenovela or Spanish soap opera and then we went off to our first of two grammar classes.  After an hour of instruction, we had merienda (snack) and then our first “elective” class.  There were two elective classes per day that we chose from a pool of four early the first week.  One needed to be science/math based while the other was cultural.  After this class we had a cultural activity.  This activity changed every three days and ranged anywhere from soccer to cooking.  The rest of the day was filled with two more classes, singing, and a group cultural activity.

You must be wondering, though, where is the food in all of this?  I purposely left that out because it deserves its own blog post in itself.  However, I’ll keep it short.  We had three delicious meals every day and merienda as previously mentioned.  Every meal was introduced with a presentation of the food names which was done by a house, family, or group of counselors.  Then, the food was delivered to our tables and we filled our stomachs to the brim (as always with delicious food).  I most fondly remember pan dulce, which I had my sister make me upon my return.

Now that I have you salivating, let’s move on to probably one of the most important parts: money.  The camp, unfortunately, does cost quite a bit of money.  Fear not, there are many scholarships available!  The sticker price is $4,200, but anyone can apply for a need-based scholarship.  For some languages there are even more scholarships available, especially Arabic.  Much of the scholarship money goes unused every year, so do not be afraid to apply for it!  Scholarship applications become available in December and can be found here: http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/youth-dates-and-rates/costs-and-scholarships.  There are also payment plans for those who wish to pay in installments.  If this still scares you due to the money, I encourage you to still consider the camp.  Yes, it cost me about $3,000, but I learned a life-long skill.  I became fluent in a language in under a year, which is almost unheard of.  If you put the work into it, the camp is 100% worth the money.

If you are still unsure or want more information, don’t hesitate to contact me for questions.  I can be easily reached at [email protected] or on Facebook as Samantha Goerger.

[jifmentors]

Girls State

In an earlier post, I mentioned Girls State as a requirement for the American Legion Samsung Scholarship.  This post is just a more in-depth description of that summer opportunity.

All information can be found here: http://www.boysandgirlsstate.org/girls.html

Girls State is a week-long "camp" of sorts that focuses primarily on government and leadership.  Since each state does it differently, I must specify that I can only speak for North Dakota, but I do know that all states have the same basic goal.

When the camp began, we were split into two parties (Nationalist and Federalist) who did not have any real party lines.  We were to create our platforms and decide what issues were important to our group.  Before getting to the state level, however, we started locally and went through both city and district elections and mock functioning.  As the week progressed, we moved on to state elections where we ran for offices by party and eventually (with those elected) functioned as a state.

Though the camp focuses on government, there are many parts that are for pure enjoyment and experience!  I was part of the county newspaper, so I had the opportunity to interview the state president of the American Legion and the ND Superintendent of Public Instruction.  Since then I have kept in contact with the Superintendent and she has been a great resource for me!  There was also a choir and an entire night designated for competitive skits between each city.

If you do not know anything about government or you don't feel like you wouldn't want to run for office, don't worry!  I would say 95% of the people my year had no prior knowledge of government!  Also, although I did run for office, I actually had more fun when I didn't win.  During our city functions, I was designated the "town hobo" and had the opportunity to practice my acting skills in a mock court trial.

If you are at all considering going, do it!  Almost everyone who goes loves it!  Also, don't forget to apply for the Samsung Scholarship, it could mean $20,000 off your chest for college bills!

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or on Facebook as Samantha Goerger!

[willnunnally]

09.12.14 - Chicago, Illinois - Chicago's a bi-polar place in the summer. At once beautiful and dangerous. For too many idle teens, it's difficult to stay safe. Fortunately, CHA provides a plethora of opportunities (18 programs in all) for CHA Youth to take part in throughout the summer season.

In late August I wrapped up filming all these programs and produced a recap video, which covers the scope of them and the impact they make on these kids, in their own words.