Program Reviews

I absolutely love Global Glimpse and all the opportunities the program gave to me. I met people who welcomed me to their culture and lifestyle. I met my best friends, that helped me throughout all my fears and they motivated me to be the best person I could possibly be. I explored new traditions and even hiked beautiful volcanoes. Global Glimpse taught me to love and appreciate the world we live in. I absolutely love Global Glimpse for the opportunity they gave me and I see myself living and growing in Ecuador.

The warmth and kindness of the Costa Rican people redefined my understanding of community, fostering a sense of togetherness that I now carry with me in all aspects of my life. Truly a trip I will remember forever.

Being a kid who’s always went to public schools for my entire life, I never imagined traveling with others my age to another country. But Global Glimpse provided me with an affordable & life-changing experience to a country where the average household income is about 1/8th what it is in the US. I was part of the JA1B cohort which traveled to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, where the environment was completely different compared to the US. Though we were all homesick at first, my cohort eventually got to know each other and we became something of a family. One favorite day of mine was Community Day, where we went to Sonido del Yaque, which is a self-sustaining community. We felt the strong sense of family while we walked through. Every member treated each other like family, some took care of children that weren’t theirs, others cooked for many people. We also got to know the kids, we gave them piggy back rides and face painted them. It was an overall fun and interactive experience. Another important day was Immigration Day, where we went to ASCALA, an organization that helps Haitian immigrants establish a life in the DR, a sugar cane field, and a family who lives in the bateyes, a settlement that housed the workers of the fields. It was a very humbling and emotional experience, but it opened the eyes of everyone by showing the reality of people from other parts of the world. One other thing I enjoyed about this trip was our Community Action Project (CAP) to which we helped construct an aqueduct that provided potable water to families that previously did not have easy access to. This trip always kept us interacting in some way, there was never a dull moment where we got bored. Anytime we had free time, we got to know each other better and our GGLs were always there to support us. This trip helped my cohort and myself develop leadership skills as well as accounting for others that were previously not noticed. I will forever be grateful for having this experience provided by Global Glimpse.

I had the opportunity to travel to Ecuador with Global Glimpse, and was given generous scholarships that paid for the majority of my trip, including a free luggage and my passport renewal fees. Global Glimpse’s choice to arrange a trip with people not from my school has shown me different perspectives, due to the diverse group of people with different racial and economic backgrounds. We all bonded so quickly and they inspired me to strive higher because of their ambitious goals.

The tech-free environment allowed us to live in the moment and we didn't feel the urge to use our phones anyways since the itinerary would always be packed. We would use our free time every night to bond with each other by making friendship bracelets, playing
board games, and just talking to each other. We were allowed to explore the city without an adult so that tested our independence and ability to navigate in another country.

The Global Glimpse staff, in the US and in Ecuador, were incredibly kind, helpful and genuinely cared about us. We all bonded so well to the point where many of us cried when we had to leave Ecuador and bought flowers for the Global Glimpse staff. We all felt like a family despite the short two weeks we had together and are still in contact till this day.

One of the most challenging but rewarding aspects of this program was our community action project that improved our collaboration skills. We visited a school and discovered that bullying and the challenges of learning in an immersive way were things the school wanted to shed light to. We created an anti-bullying mural, a math mural, educational games and curriculum proposals for students. This helped me see that education is one of the career paths that I'm passionate about. We also had “leader of the day” where everyday one or two students led the whole group with the itinerary that day. During our nightly meetings, we reflected on how we could do better, what we learned, who we appreciated that day, and blog comments from family back at home.

Each day had a specific theme, for example, on "global business" day we visited a quinoa factory where they distributed products to lessen the malnutrition rates. Also, visiting a shoe store showed us the importance of supporting small businesses because many are struggling due to the pandemic and because younger people are moving out of rural areas into the city to find work. Every single person attempted to speak Spanish to the locals even if they weren’t confident and after the trip we all said that we were more motivated to learn Spanish. When we had our “working like a local” day, we spoke directly to the market workers about their lives and worked at their stalls to see a non-sugar coated perspective from their lens.

Although the food was very healthy and filling due to the buffet style meals, I noticed that there weren’t many vegetarian options but later on the chef made personalized dishes for the vegetarians after they expressed their concerns. Also, I noticed that cliques formed to the point where for every meal, the same groups of people sat together and talked to only each other. It would be great if they continued to do randomized meal seating that they once did before so that different people could bond more.

I highly recommend taking this opportunity to travel with Global Glimpse for any high schooler that wants to get out of their comfort zone, learn about a country in a non-sugar coated perspective, and develop leadership skills. You'll come back home a different person, ready to tackle issues in your own community.

Through this program I was able to travel to Costa Rica not just for a fun getaway but to also help further develop my leadership skill. Making the decision to actually apply to this program and go on the trip was probably the best decision ever because of all the different activities we did on it, and knowledge that we learned. For example, while on this trip I learned about conservation and why it’s so important. I had an amazing experience and would definitely do it all over again if I could.

My experience traveling to Costa Rica was about lots of learning! I was able be open-minded to new things because it was a new culture so new foods and new ways of living. I learned about sustainability and how it is important to the environment specially countries with a lot of biodiversity like Costa Rica. It made me realize how I want to improve the way the environment is treated. I would like to incorporate this to my future career goals and plans as I am now aware of how we can cause damage to our earth and how it is important to preserve all the nature around us. Ultimately it is part of who we are and something that we rely on to keep us alive. Aside from this, I had an amazing group with me and we had so much fun playing games and just hanging out together.

I would like to greatly thank the global glimpse organization for providing me with this amazing opportunity. This trip completely changed my perspective and life for the better. Throughout my trip, I learned meaningful lessons including the value of empathy, generosity, and courage. When I got to meet the community members and interact with the children, there was nothing but pure joy that filled my heart. This experience has granted me eternal gratefulness in my life, while encouraging and motivating me to continue helping others for the rest of my life. I also gained independence as I was away from my parents and family, it forced me to engage with people I've never met, yet by the trip it felt like I had known them for years. Furthermore, another aspect of the trip I appreciate immensely is the no phone policy, this truly allowed me to experience and enjoy the trip completely without distraction. Not only was I living in the present moment, it felt healing to escape the internet and truly connect with a new part of the real world. Additionally, there were moments that caused deep emotions to appear for me. When we visited the sugarcane plantains, it was hard for me to accept the truth about these peoples lives, it absolutely broke my heart. However, witnessing this, caused a shift in my perspective even further, and allowed me to carry what we have learned about empathy and love for the rest of my life. For my trips CAP project we built a trench and inserted pipes in order to deliver clean water to a community. This was such a joy being able to help a community achieve this great accomplishment.

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I set out on my trip. I've always been more shy than outgoing. But this trip allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone and be the person I've always wanted to be. Being the LDD has significantly altered how I view what it is to be a good and powerful leader. Never leaving anyone behind and constantly keeping an eye on others. My leadership and communication skills were strengthened and developed as a result of this trip. When I signed up for this opportunity, my main goal was to learn more about the culture and ways of life in another country. What I got was so much more, not only did I learn more about the local communities but I was able to grow connections with them. The seminars also taught me so much about where the heart of Costa Rica is and their true love and care for the environment. This journey allowed me to build lifetime bonds but also lifetime lessons that I have now carried into my everyday life. By the time the trip was through, I honestly did not want to return. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do. Saying goodbye is never easy, but I am happy I had something so genuine and special making those goodbyes so hard. Today, this trip remains one of my happiest and most cherished experiences. If you do see this and you are presented with this opportunity, I 100% encourage you to take it, to go out of your comfort zone and make those new connections because I promise you will not regret it!

Global Glimpse's trip to Costa Rica was an amazing experience that nearly left me in tears when we had to leave. The strong bonds the program helped nurture built friendships in a matter of hours instead of weeks. There was always something interesting and fun to do throughout the trip. Activities on the trip always had important and valuable lessons that had plenty of real-world applications. One of my favorites was a seminar about the effects of tourism where the delegation was split into groups to simulate a trial to determine whether a new luxury hotel should be built by the beach. It was activities like these that showed me a new perspective on the world. The skill I developed the most in Costa Rica was leadership, something Global Glimpse clearly aims to improve. Every day, a Leader del Dia (LDD) is chosen to direct the whole delegation and their meetings. It was the perfect way to become more comfortable in leadership roles. By the end of the trip, when everyone was saying their goodbyes, probably over half of us were in tears, refusing to believe we would no longer be living together in the beautiful country of Costa Rica.
My time in Costa Rica didn't just teach me about the country, it also taught me a lot about myself. The trip is a wonderful way to put your skills to the test and see what it would be like to live without your parents for a while. It is an excellent way to sneak a peek at adulthood while solving adult, scratch that, global issues. If you ever have the opportunity to go on a Global Glimpse trip, TAKE IT. Trust me when I say it is an opportunity of a lifetime, you can't miss this.