[Webinar] Norway: Meet the Program Expert
Um while we’re waiting for everybody to join I’ll just give an overview about what we’re going to talk about today so today we’re going to talk about all of our National Geographic student travel programs that are available for summer 2024 and I’m going to start with an overview of the different types of
Programs we have and the on assignments that students can choose to focus on but then we’re going to do an especially Deep dive into our program in Norway and we are thrilled to to welcome my colleague mic suul who coordinates that program as as well as National Geographic Explorer ingie mayos to share
A little bit about their experience with the program and ing’s experience as an Explorer and as an expert on these programs but first so my name is Hannah gilkinson I am one of the directors here at National Geographic student travel I have been designing and leading programs
For the past 15 years and my background is in wildlife biology so I have primarily helped with the programs that have a focus on conservation and science um and I mentioned I will be inviting Micah a little bit later on to share a little a little bit so I’ll let him
Introduce himself when the time comes um but we’ll be happy to answer any questions that you have so please feel free to put those in the Q&A chat at the bottom of your screen and we will answer them either in the chat or live at the end of the webinar if they’re not
Answered throughout the course of our conversation today um and we’re also going to be recording this so that we can send it out to anyone who’s registered who’s attended and then you can share it with anyone who you think might be interested in learning a little
Bit more um we’ll also post it on our website so uh you can find it there as well all right so I will get started so the National Geographic student travel programs are unique educational opportunities that allow students to explore and learn while connecting to the missions of the National Geographic
Society the society is a nonprofit organization committed to using the power of science exploration education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the Wonder of our world these programs provide an opportunity for students to get out into the field with National Geographic explorers and to engage with their surroundings as they
Learn skills and explore Fields such as photography conservation so science geology engineering and technology and storytelling the hope is that students return home with an Explorer mindset curious and inspired and ready to observe and engage the world around them but also with a real sense of responsibility and respect for other
People cultures in the natural world this summer we have three different types of programs for high school students they are exploration University workshops and photo workshops and I’m going to just briefly run through these different types of programs the Norway program we’re talking about later is one of our
Exploration programs so these programs are designed for students who are completing 9th through 12th grade or the equivalent we do have some eighth grade students who choose to join us on these programs and we do make those exceptions so please do give us a call if you think
That you know your student is is ready for that um but the exploration programs are traveling programs they generate have 16 to 24 students and two to three leaders plus the National Geographic Explorer and when students apply for an exploration program they pick a specific on assignment Focus so each exploration
Program has two on assignments to choose from there’s photography there’s climate science wildlife conservation and anthropology culture and tradition and on these programs students can expect to spend part of their day with their On Assignment group and then part of the day participating in whole group activities but they On Assignment really
Allows you a narrow Focus within the larger program um through which to to experience the um the program the university Workshop is based in Cambridge on the campus of MIT and it focuses on technology engineering and Robotics and this is a larger program it will be around 50 students and six to
Eight leaders plus an Explorer so throughout this program we visit Labs we participate in workshops and we look at how explorers and researchers at MIT and across Cambridge are using cuttingedge technology to address issues impacting the world on this program students are then challenged to consider issues in
Their own communities and taking what they’ve learned and discussed during the program develop a final project that could address that problem our photography workshops are offered in Yellowstone and these are intensive workshops where students get out into the field every day with their trip leaders and a National Geographic
Photography expert they learn everything from composition and technique to storytelling and this program is a strong emphasis on editing as well and that’s because there’s a final gallery opening images at the end and that is open to friends and family as well as the public um who are able to come and
See what our students have produced this on the program so for all of these programs it’s really important to know that you don’t have to have any former experience just really Cur a curiosity and a desire to learn and to explore and we will be happy to walk you through
What to expect we provide detailed packing lists um if you’re going to be doing photography and you have questions about gear you can give us a call and we also provide you a list of what we’d recommend and then the instructors really work with students at whatever level they
Join us at so these um themes that we have that we the students will use as a lens through which they explore the destination um there I’m going to go through those just really quickly here uh and I just want to point out that all students are working on a final project
Of some sort and I think you might hear Mike and Ingy talk about this a little bit later this could be a a photo gallery or presentation of best images for any students in the photography on assignment it could be a short written piece or field Journal presentation by their Wildlife Conservation students
It’s really a chance to get creative there’s no expectations um or limitations um they’re not meant to be high pressure but they’re really a chance to dive into a question that the student comes to the program hoping to answer and then to share back with the
Rest of the group and family and friends back home what they’ve learned so each On Assignment will have a trip leader dedicated to teaching and working with students on their projects and the Explorers work with all students regardless of their focus so um we often do have students call unable to decide
Which On Assignment they want to choose so please do give us a call and we’re happy to kind of walk you through what the options are and help you answer that question so the anthropology culture and tradition On Assignment is one that is offered on our Norway and Japan programs
Climate and geology is unique to our Iceland program and the innovation technology and Robotics is unique to the university workshop at MIT photography is an on assignment that is on all of our exploration programs as well as the sole focus of the photo Workshop and Wildlife Conservation is
Offered on Ecuador and Galapagos Namibia and the Canadian Arctic so that is the introduction I will now pass this over to my colleague Micah to talk um a little bit more about our program in Norway great thanks so much Hannah um and thanks everyone for tuning in today
To learn more about our uh program in Norway and to meet our Norway program expert in mayus my name is mik I’m program director with uh Nation Geographic student travel and I organized our program in Norway so we’ve been bringing students to Norway since 2019 um personally it’s my favorite
Destination to travel and explore and I am um very excited to share more about with you today um so we have two sets of dates in Norway June 26th to July 12th and July 12th to July 28th um both of those are open for uh enrollment right now we’d
Love to have you join us and uh I’m just going to walk through the itun over these next two slides uh so you can get a sense of um what the program kind of feels like and uh we have four main stops that we make on the Norway
Itinerary uh we start the trip in yenim National Park um which is home to Norway’s highest mountains uh this is a really um singular place in uh in Norway um there is a network of um hiking uh cabins and Huts that across the whole country um some of the oldest ones are
Right here in uh yiman National Park and we stay at one of those for the first um four nights of the program and that is where iny joins the program and will be with uh our students um so it’s a really fantastic time for uh students to get to
Know each other get to know iny uh be immersed in this incredible landscape so the top right uh and uh bottom left photos those are both from y National Park um so the students are staying in cabins uh eating uh communal meals in the dining room um that are provided by
Uh the Fantastic uh um staff of the cabin and then we’re uh going out on Hikes every day exploring um this amazing landscape from there uh we’ll head back to Oslo which is where everybody will fly into um so we’ll head back there it’s about a three-hour trip and we’ll
Have have um three days in the city so Oslo capital of Norway uh a really uh booming bustling uh Metropolis uh as far as those go in Norway um it uh the Waterfront area is really under this uh massive Redevelopment project so all of these um beautiful buildings you may
Have seen pictures of um of the uh oper house for example which was built to look like a glacier kind of sliding into the water um these really uh iconic um public buildings anchoring the Waterfront which is one of the centers of uh the city of Oslo and we have a
Chance to explore that um as well as um some of the uh beautiful uh public uh works in the area uh and we’ll see some of those on the next slide so this uh photo in the bottom middle this is uh the centerpiece of of the largest public
Park uh in I believe in the world um this is called uh Von’s Park And so there’s a massive uh sculptural installation all built by uh one man in his workshop and this um that we see here is the monolith that’s in the middle of that Park so our students get
A chance to explore that and you might notice that a lot of these photos are showing incredible natural landscapes and outdoor activities there’s a reason for that um this is really uh Central to this program Central to Norwegian identity um the landscape of Norway is uh incredibly beautiful you’ve probably heard about
The fjords of Norway uh we see Bergen here which is the second city of Norway historic Capital um right on the Fjord on the west coast and these buildings are a UNESCO world heritage protected site called Brin um that are wooden uh storehouses that date back back uh
Almost 800 years and so that’s the uh last stop of the program we go to Bergen and have a chance to explore that beautiful historic city um there is uh one stop that is probably my favorite on the program um that we do in between Oslo and Bergen so
We fly up north to uh loton which are uh these islands that are Central to um Norwegian culture Norwegian history uh just incredibly beautiful landscapes in the uh north of Norway above the Arctic Circle um we get a chance to go out kayaking uh with local guides while
We’re up there which you can see in the upper left and um the landscape here uh is where the Furs the uh Ocean and the just uh Rock and mountains of um of Norway are all just intertwined together in the most POS most beautiful possible
Way so it’s a real treat to be able to bring students up there for um five days of the program we stay in two different locations so we have a chance to explore this um think of it as a rocky spine of Norway that’s jutting out uh a connection of um interconnected islands
And so that’s a real uh highlight of the program that we get to spend some time up there uh and just to uh let’s see covered all of these photos so we get a good uh mix of City time in Oslo and Bergen and then um really uh thrown into
The nature of Norway in leoen and in yenim and um there’s a central concept to uh this program which is something that is uh important to Norwegian identity which is called Freo sleeve uh Loosely translated that means uh living in the open air um and this is something
That you’ll see from the beginning of the program you know our first days in yenim uh the people that you’ll meet there you’ll meet so many people uh and it’s uh a real pleasure that Ingy is there um with you at the beginning of the program um in this special place but
Uh you know you’ll meet families uh intergenerational uh you know grandmas that are bringing their um grandkids to this uh National Park and this is where they’re choosing to have their holidays very common um thing for Norwegian families to do so uh spending time in the outdoors and really appreciating um
Everything that the Norwegian natural landscape has to offer is um really a central piece of Norwegian identity that you’ll learn about on this program and uh we carry that thread through from the very beginning so um I hope that that was a helpful overview um this really
Incredible program um would love uh to answer any questions that you have about Norway or any of our other programs for for summer of 2024 so please don’t hesitate to um reach out and get in touch if you do have questions and uh yeah I’d love to um turn it over to Ingy
Now so um with that it’s my pleasure to introduce ingie mayus um ingie is a storytelling facilitator a social entrepreneur and a National Geographic Explorer who’s dedicated to cultivating an inclusive and Equitable world that celebrates diversity her work brings her around the world to facilitate personal storytelling Journeys that Foster
Empathy proximity and collaborations between diverse groups of people and places um she’s the founder of pocket stories which is an organization based around the idea of expanding our concept of who a migrant is and what migration means and I’m so pleased that she’s returning after joining our um Norway
Expedition in 2023 last year and uh that our students are going to continue to have the opportunity to learn and travel with her um this coming summer soy welcome thank you so much Micah it’s absolutely thrilling to be here very honored to get to share my experience
And join this program again so a little bit about who am I you know how did I become a National Geographic Explorer and quote unquote an expert in Norway so to answer these what is to me three inter question I will go a little bit
Back in time so I was born in Korea and then I was adopted to Norway to a Norwegian family on the western part so you know my I was talk about fre of sleeve that was my childhood growing up you know hiking in the mountains winter or summer being along the coast but
Being adored throughout my whole childhood I was integrating who I am I also grew up a little bit different you know being adopted so I was always curious of everything that was different and I was wondering what else is beyond this community I grew up and this curiosity for finding different people
Lifestyles cultures really led me to travel study and work abroad and after some years I was really drawn to a career in working with migration because I started finding myself connected to this topic and I start working with the United Nations High commission for refugees International Organization for
Migration and local Refugee uh centers across three different continents where I learn about migration from a legal Pro uh protection perspective from labor movements integration social issues and so forth but above all I felt that I learned about it really meant to be a migrant which I found out is to be human
It’s about fighting love belonging community and purpose and while I was working with you know migration I wasn’t very satisfied around the um narratives around migration I realize they weren’t inclusive I couldn’t see myself in this narrative and I wanted every voice to matter and growing up differently I knew
The importance of value dialogue across difference and that’s where I founded poet stories there’s nonprofit that really wanted to empower young people with the elderly with different backgrounds and in faith and culture to come together to find the voice and cover their stories and share them with
Each other and that’s how I guess I evolved to become what I call a storytelling facilitator and under this umbrella of pocket stories I with a big team a quite diverse team we started project called Roots guide and we created these two books here and it’s a guide book that
Invites people to connect with people and places within their own community in neighbor neighborhood community like country and abroad and it’s built with stories of very different people with very different migration background and even though this book was designed to learn about people and places around them it’s designed in a way that
Actually hold up a mirror to self because I believe that’s what genuine and true travel does yes you learn about other people and places but most of all you learn about yourself and it was this project that National Geographic Society supported and how I become a National Geographic
Explorer so when I then got invited to be part of this opportunity to travel young people who also get to embrace this explore mindset I said of course I mean it embodies everything that I love storytelling exploration learning about itself learning about each other and new
Places and joining last year for me was so fun and meanful that’s the two worst I can’t pick one or the other they were really both and in this in this capacity I have what I call a more former role which is you know to really support the
Students and young people in developing their On Assignment projects So within photography or anthropology and between hiking in the mountains and doing this really fun you know Leisure or adventurous activities what I do is to host this many workshops around storytelling and talk about the places that we are and host interactive
Sessions I offer a listening ear um when they talk about the projects I share my experiences and New Perspectives on how to develop the stories I want to tell with the projects and of course I love to talk about my Norway and it’s usually always depicted very traditionally but I
Love to talk about Norway also through the lens of migration and reflect upon the stories of our time right now and in the uh storytelling activities I love to also bring my expertise which I think is crucial in you know when you become an an anthropologist or photographer and what
I think is particularly unique about this program it’s not just about learning about these disciplines of Storytelling anthropology and photography but I love how we learn about them in the National Geographic context because what I see students experience and honestly myself too when I went through my traveling experiences
And did you know meaningful interaction and learning I said you start finding your voice as a young person and that’s really freeing you start building a confidence and you start valuing yourself more broadly because you start connecting and understanding yourself with people and places beyond your own Community it BRS to forming meaningful
Relationships and friendships um and those inter connection that you have with the people who are coming from your own country maybe different parts of your own country and then you place a new context and every time you having conversation with your group or the people you travel you start seeing the
Connection that we have to each other we’re all interconnected and this is where my passion really lies you know to create is travel experiences they’re very different from being a tourist um because I believe that’s the most powerful tool for self-discovery in building these meaningful connections and I also notice that young people
Today just like myself when I started traveling we all really yearn for that especially in today’s techn technological world so last year what I saw what really I sit with is that one student who was a photography student who want to explore through photography um the connection they had to the land
Through the grandmother who had Norwegian ancestry and understanding who am I in this context where do I come from here and how can I bring that back home to us another one use anthropology to learn about the different values being held and articulated in Norway to better understand and articulate their
Own values of who they are now and bring that back home and I think all of these experience are instrumental in shaping Global Citizens and young Leaders of Tomorrow that we all need that we need to understand ourselves better we need to understand each other and how we are
Profoundly connected I think that’s the explor mindset and whether we know it or not whether we like it or not this is what we need and this is what we need for a more inclusive and sustainable future and lastly a little bit more my informal role which I think is just as
Important you know there are just some smaller parts that are formal because we have plenty of time where we’re just like hiking talking sharing meals even playing together and I think it’s in this part where I see my role it’s all about us to really get to know each
Other and build trusting relationships so that we go and do the On Assignment we have that really good foundation of understanding each other trusting each other and having C the courage to kind of go a little bit outside comfort zone to learn about you know photography but
Mo or anthropology but most of all about the people that we’re meeting along the way so I would sum maybe the experience of what you can expect I see this Journey as Adventure new insight and skills new friendships and self-discovery in a safe caring and personal designed environment for the
Students and also the leaders and people like me who come aboard a little bit about how I see um I don’t know if you have any questions I’m all for it um please let me know if you have concerns or any needs that you would like for me to address Hannah over
To you thank you so much that was wonderful and just great to hear a little bit about how you got where you are and um yeah it’s it’s it’s always it’s always lovely to hear from explorers about the journey they’ve taken and I think it’s it’s we get to
Experience a little bit today but you know that’s one of the I would say most rich Parts about these programs as well as for students who are starting to think about you know where they want their Journey might take them and and the questions they have being able to
Learn from the Explorers from their leaders and from um you know the people they meet along the way there’s so many inspiration stories out there so speaking of leaders I’m going to talk a little bit about some of our leaders um before we move on to the application
Process and the Q&A so um all of our trip leaders are incredibly accomplished Dynamic individuals who just love working with students so uh they’re Professionals in their field and they take time from their schedules to come and join us each summer because they really enjoy and love the Curiosity um
And the diversity of the students that these programs attract so they are with the group for 247 for the entire duration of the program from departing the airport um you know as a airport in the United States to returning at the end and they oversee everything from the
Teaching of the UN assignment projects yes but also health and safety group dynamics um and they’re just very well established in their fields and so for a student interested in a career in you know photography or you know anthropology or Wildlife Conservation hearing the paths they’ve taken what has
Inspired them and you know where they are now can be really uh impactful um they are all CPR certified first aid certified and just incredible individuals so I’m just going to quickly talk about a few of the examples Alex Silva she’s an educator who has taught students ranging from middle school to
College level and she’s one of our wildlife and conservation leaders um so she’s very well versed in everything from you know remote field work to camera traps um and she recently returned back to Chicago after six years of teaching conservation courses in the Virgin Islands Alex has been with us
Since 2009 um Leonardo corizo is a photographer and multimedia journalism professor at the Ohio State University and he’s been leading photography program since 2015 Mariela vasconcelos was born and raised in Brazil and she is a traveler educator and a dive instructor um she’s currently her PhD research is focused on neglected
Tropical diseases and cellular and molecular biology William louu has actually LED our Norway program many times in the past um he is a photographer and videographer who’s been with us since 2011 and primarily he has led photography programs with us in um Asia and Europe and
Scandinavia um so I would these are just a few of our leaders I would definitely encourage you to go to our website and read the bios for all of our trip leaders and explorers it’s just inspirational to kind of see who they are and who might be joining these
Programs this summer so the these are all of our programs for this year um I will say if you’re interested in in joining us this summer I would encourage you to apply as soon as possible we we are seeing um some spots be limited on certain destinations but we do have
Space at the moment so please um if you’re interested give us a call you can see full itineraries and the dates on the website and um we’d be happy to put you in touch with the director and to walk through the program as Micah just did with Norway today our application
Process is we try to keep it quite simple it is an online application um with basic information name age where you’re from um and asking you to choose both the first and the second choice of programs um and then you’d be asked to put down a deposit of $700 that will
Hold space in the program while you get the next pieces in and those pieces are a short personal statement so that’s just a paragraph or two about why are you curious about this program what is it you hope to accomplish it’s not a college essay but we do want to know you
Know what’s motivating you and and what sparks your curiosity about the destination and the topics um so we would ask for a personal statement and then the email address is for two references um these can be teachers coaches mentors people that really know you well enough to know how you might do
In a program engaging with your peers um helping be part of an inclusive community um and you know stepping outside your comfort zone a little bit we’ll e email them a reference form to complete um and then once we have those materials we can take a look and our
Admissions team will get back to you with the decision um pretty quickly and then you’ll have access to What’s called the digital Locker that is the uh One-Stop resource for everything you need for the summer the packing list and photography list that I mentioned before
That will be in there a link to our summer blog um that parents and families can follow along with if they want to be able to live vicariously through their their students Journeys um all of that will be in there and then we’re also here you know 247 during the summer for
Any questions that come up any issues any concerns at all um and we’re here por throughout the spring to help you get ready for these Journeys so um that is the application process and as I said just do give us a call if you have any
Questions um and I guess I just want to end by saying that you know these programs are they’re life-changing experiences they’re fun and they offer the opportunity for students to learn from experts and guides who are just leaders in their field um and the goal of these programs is to empower students
With the skills and the tool sets to go back and become leaders in their own communities and that is certainly something we’ve seen over the years on these programs so I also want to mention that we do strive to bring together students who share curiosity for the
World and we have a strong emphasis on community inclusivity and a positive group dynamic is a core pillar of the student travel experience so I would encourage you to um be part of that experience and again we welcome all um any questions that people might have um Micah here’s a
Question maybe you could answer that just came in on the Q&A um is whether or not there’s a chance to meet and interact with any of the Sami while we’re in Norway yeah that’s a great question um so we uh go in Lon is the kind of
Closest that we get to um the SII uh you know traditional homelands um we have met with Sami um I think once in the past on the program um and it’s something we would really love to do and it just kind of depends on how we can um
Arrange that uh if you know kind of basically Logistics of of getting that to happen but um we do have some contacts that we’ve uh worked with in the past I think that might be it I don’t see any other questions coming in if something pops into mind afterwards please do just
Give us a call or um or you can email us uh anytime as well but hopefully this has been helpful hopefully this gets you even more excited for the summer and more curious about Norway um thank you to Micah and to ingie for for joining us
Um and we will share this out with you afterwards so you can share it with anyone who will be interested and um appreciate uh you taking the time
Learn about our program in Norway and meet Ingi Mehus, the Explorer who will join students in the field this summer.
Ingi Mehus is a storytelling facilitator, social entrepreneur, and National Geographic Explorer born in South Korea and raised in Norway, dedicated to cultivating an inclusive and equitable world that celebrates diversity. She travels across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa to facilitate personal storytelling journeys that foster empathy, proximity, and collaborations between diverse groups of people and places.
Learn more at natgeostudenttravel.org