Does two weeks whale-watching, studying glaciers, and climbing icecaps in Antarctica sound fascinating? It does to Ashley Aftanas, a 10th grader at North Allegheny Intermediate High School and two-time People to People delegate. She can’t wait to be exposed to “something so different from what I currently see and do… I think it will be a shock to return home.”
The Antarctica Students on Ice program is offered only to People to People alumni, and Aftanas recognizes it as an exciting chance to continue learning. She will spend two weeks learning to identify different whale species in the wild, studying Antarctica’s unique ecosystem, and encountering wildlife from baby penguins to massive albatrosses.
Aftanas already knows how much an international journey can impact a person. “One of the best decisions you can make is to travel with People to People,” she says. “When you don’t have parents with you, you have to learn to be responsible for yourself.”
Aftanas has taken the independence she developed in her People to People programs and applied it to her academic life. She is the Assistant Drill Team Commander for her school’s junior ROTC program (she’s accepting her ROTC award in the photo at right). This honor is “usually given to a junior or a senior, but because of her abilities, the position was given to her when she was a 10th grader,” noted U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Richard Denault. “She is looked up to by all the cadets in the program.”
As a result of her international travel, Aftanas says, “I’m more confident in myself and my leadership abilities.” Traveling and learning with People to People “is not a vacation. You do learn and you do work, but it is worth it.”
