Adventures Cross-Country Brings 30 Years of Experience to Gap Semester Programs with Opportunities in Africa, Asia and Latin America

For over 30 years, Adventures Cross-Country http://www.adventurescrosscountry.com/ has been creating life-changing opportunities for high school students through the blend of adventure and service. Included in the programming are Gap Semesters for young adults who wish to take a deep breath between high school and college.

"When we began offering gap semester programs, students and their parents were hesitant about deferring entrance to college for a few months." said Scott von Eschen, president. "Now, gap is very much accepted as a way to spend the year after high school."

Von Eschen's company sees taking a gap semester as an emerging trend for multiple reasons:

Many universities today are encouraging a gap semester for students to mature before facing the challenges of a college freshman year. Some even provide tuition assistance.

A gap program offers opportunities for students to experience a world beyond our borders, giving them a global perspective on issues and events. This perspective can be invaluable once they begin their college studies.

A gap program can be an opportunity for what von Eschen called "exponential" personal growth. "It is remarkable how dramatically our students evolve during a three-month gap semester." he noted. "Traveling off the beaten path to faraway lands and cultures can be life changing."

Adventures Cross-Country offers its Gap Semester Program in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Students may enroll for fall 2014 programs up to Sept. 2, 2014. Ninety-day programs begin Sept. 15, 2014, and run through Dec. 13, 2014. This company's gap semesters focus on five fundamental themes as the students move through these study areas: Literacy and Education, Public Health, Urbanization and the Movement of Peoples, Environment and Conservation, Microfinance and Economic Growth.

"Our gap semesters have a rich academic fabric complementing each and every location, highlighting regional issues that are directly linked to global challenges," explains von Eschen. "Just imagine studying global water issues while you are living in an African village that is in the midst of a 10-year drought."

Programs accommodate from eight to 12 students. Tuition is all-inclusive except for international air to the destination and personal items. Students have the option to earn up to 20 quarter hours of college credit through Seattle Central Community College (SCCC), accredited through the Northwestern Association of Schools and Colleges which is widely accepted throughout the country at both public university and private institutions. SCCC was also named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best institutions in the U.S.A.

Cambodia, China, Thailand and Vietnam are explored on Asia: Gap Semester as students impact lives while working on a clean water project, care for and learn about elephant rehabilitation, teach English to Chinese students who have never met Westerners, and participate in programs that assist youth affected by Agent Orange. There's also time to become PADI scuba-certified, take a sailing excursion and a tour of Angkor Wat. The tuition is $13,500 for the 90-day program.

Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru are the countries visited on Latin America: Gap Semester where students immerse themselves in Spanish in Costa Rica's cloud forest, help protect leatherback turtles, partner with community leaders in the Amazon to provide clean water, live among weavers and farmers in an Ecuadorian village, build clean stoves for Quechua families in Peru's Sacred Valley, facilitate nutrition education to communities on Lake Titicaca and still have time to hike onto an active volcano, surf and walk in the footsteps of the Incas at Machu Picchu. The tuition is $11,500.

In Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Africa: Gap Semester engages students in a community agricultural fair trade enterprise; they join rangers in efforts to protect endangered rhinoceros; join born free and Maasai people in lion conservation; participate in a community improvement project in the Kibera Slum and board for a time at East Africa's first free all-female secondary school. The tuition is $13,500 exclusive of air and also includes whitewater rafting on the Nile, a safari in Maasai Mara National Park and earning scuba certification in the pristine waters off of Zanzibar.

In addition to Gap Programs, Adventures Cross-Country offers nearly 20 opportunities for ages 13 to 19 to roll up their sleeves in the summer to assist domestic and international communities while traveling from two weeks to over a month domestically and abroad.

Service projects span the globe, from constructing water filters in Cambodia to rhino tracking and conservation in Uganda to serving the impoverished in San Francisco.

Adventures Cross-Country's 50-page catalog details Community Service, Language Immersion and Multi-Sport programs in 21 countries on six continents for youth seeking a summer service learning experience, all while exploring cultures and communities off the beaten path. The full catalog in a digital version can also be viewed online: click here. To order a copy or to speak to a representative, call (415) 332-5075 or visit online: http://www.adventurescrosscountry.com/.

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