Last October, sophomore Zeb Edros found himself surrounded by other people who truly cared about health issues in the world. The catch? He, along with other students from the high school, were the only non-professionals at this conference. Oh, and they were in Berlin.

Every year, students have the opportunity to travel to places such as Amsterdam, Portugal, Nicaragua, Tanzania and Berlin, some in the Global Leadership class, some not, but they all have a shared an interest in world health and learning.

The trips serve as a non-traditional approach for the students to learn and gain experience in a different environment.

According to social studies teacher Ben Kahrl, who teaches the Global Leadership class, the trips function to give the students insight on real situations.

“The trips have two purposes. One is for students to work with and get mentoring from adults who are seeking to solve real-world complex problems. The other is so that they can see these real-world complex problems,” Kahrl said.

According to Edros, who travelled to Berlin for the World Health Summit this past October, the conference was a unique experience for him.

“I think the fact that we were the only students at a professional conference meant that everybody talked to us as if we too were their equals, which let us understand not just more about their fields, but just how to interact with these people in general,” Erdos said. “They answered our questions. They gave us advice on our futures which is really helpful.”

Kahrl believes that the information and skills that the students learn on trips like these will help improve their future and their range of possibilities.

“They {now} have confidence. They can enter the adult world and have conversations with professionals rather than being on the sidelines,” Kahrl said. “Students get exposed to possible careers that they wouldn’t otherwise, simply because they meet people who do things they’ve never heard of.”

According to Kahrl, many of the students who go on Global Leadership trips are in the Global Leadership Class. Sophomore and Global Leadership student Jack Heuberger said that the students do a lot of work pertaining to many different aspects of global problem solving.

“You also learn about situations happening in other countries, such as the Libya slave crisis, and you have to think about ways to possibly solve those problems,” Heuberger said. “It’s about a lot of learning about how the world works and government and how other governments work together,  and it’s a lot of critical thinking and collaboration.”

Kahrl said that he hopes to expand the program and give the opportunity of traveling and learning to  many more students in the future.

“My goal is that all students, regardless of their socioeconomic background, have a chance to get mentoring from people around the world, and to have an opportunity to travel to places where these challenges are real and immediate” Kahrl said.