People to People and National State Leaders Programs

ichigotoxx
Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:07:40 +0000

Several years ago I traveled with P2P to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England for roughly $7,000. It was not a joke at all. We prepared in the months leading up to our trip with many meetings so we could get to know our fellow students from other schools. All of the students in my delegation group were very intelligent people, the majority of them had 3.8 unweighted GPA’s or more.

In our first meeting, my delegation leader addressed the past P2P travelers that were killed/injured. The boy who was killed was in a delegation with a specific leader that later faced several years of prison for exposing alcohol to minors. The girl who broke her leg and arm wandered off from the group when she was not permitted to, and walked into oncoming traffic in England. The boy who returned with “malnutrition” was an exaggeration; he simply refused to eat the food because it was foreign, and his parents filed a lawsuit because he came home claiming he was not fed. Since then, P2P has put $3 million dollars into a 24/7 health & safety department.

As for selectivity, it isn’t terribly selective, but at my school it is considered slightly prestigious.

My history teacher who nominated me sent his son on four P2P trips, and he had a low 3 GPA. His essays and extracurricular activities focused mainly on these trips. His son later got into Berkley.

As for the trip, I have to tell you, my experience was not touristy at all. We had access to many locations that the public did not, and we even got to meet and speak with a former member of the Parliament. We went to so many places and saw a huge amount of things.

I don’t want to sound defensive, but P2P was a life-changing experience. I returned more confident and mature (sorry if that sounds sappy, but it’s true!)

So in conclusion, I really don’t think anyone who hasn’t been on a P2P trip has a say in whether or not it’s a joke. It’s something you have to experience to truly understand it. The price was indeed high, but the access we had to things was unbelievable and amazing, so it was worth it. My family would have never been able to do all the things we did on my P2P trip.