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July 1998- June 1999
After my Sophomore year of college at Baldwin-Wallace, the college was shifting from quarters to semesters. I decided to take off the first year on semesters to let them get the kinks out of scheduling and academic presentation. During the year I was very fortunate to have chosen the amazing experience of traveling with Up With People. Up With People was founded in the 1960s. The focus from the beginning was to harness the positive spirit and energy of young adults. This provides an outlet and opportunity for young people to make a difference not just in there own communities but around the world.
The 12 month program gives its participants an opportunity to travel with a diverse student population to amazing places, and stay with some amazing host families. When I traveled there were 5 casts of 125 people each year, 3 casts began in the summer and 2 casts began in the winter. Up With People boasts more than 20,000 alumni of the program. The primary activities while traveling are performing a 2 hour Up With People original production and being in service to communities as we travel. Our positive spirit promoted teamwork, the impact groups can make in their communities, diversity both as we live and react to the world around us.
During my time with Up With People I traveled with 125 people from 22 different countries, stayed with 70+ host families in 11 countries and performed the Up With People show 100+ times. It was truly an amazing experience. I was able to learn much about myself and those in the world around me. My travels took me to the United States, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, The Netherlands, Germany, France, England, and Portugal.
I saw my host family experiences as a menu for life. I was young and had many decisions ahead of me. My host family experiences provided me with a sampler of how people choose to live their life. It was up to me to experience each of them and to reflect upon my priorities and focus for my life. My menu categories would include; where to live, what to seek in a spouse, to have pets or not, to have small families vs. large families, to live to work or work to live, to provide balance and fulfillment or much stress and anxiety, as well as how to educate ones children. These choices, as we each structure our lives, will form who we are and what we are about. It was priceless experiencing households with such varied background experiences. Very few individuals experience 70+ households in a lifetime let alone one year. People are often stuck with what they know not with what the possibilities are for their lives. My host families certainly touched my heart and the way I approach life.
The Up With People show that I performed was titled "Roads." The story was about a local student center that was burned down by arsons because of hatred with regards to the positive impact that the center was making in this needy area. The culminating experience was created from the students combining efforts to overcome the obstacles of racism, misunderstanding, hatred, and financial difficulties to bond together to recreate a new youth center that would transcend the values that destroyed the center in the first place. The show script was translated as we entered each country so that local audiences would not lose the essence of our performance. The show provides varied musical styles, much dancing, and colorful costumes. I was fortunate enough to be able to do a lot of solo work as well as perform very challenging professionally choreographed numbers. The production was erected in each city that we visited. A full semi transported the stage, lighting, sets, and sound equipment. On show days the truck was unloaded in the AM, rehearsals took place in the PM, the show was performed at 7 or 8 and then we took down the staging until midnight or so. They were very full days but certainly provided for an exciting time. Crowds ranged from several hundred to as many as 10,000, depending on the venue.
Up With People went bankrupt in 2001. The cost of operations were simply not as balanced as they once were. The program has gone under some major renovations since I traveled but the original spirit of the program still exists. The first program opportunity will be in the Fall of 2004 of the newly designed program. Up With People boasts its new WorldSmart program. Providing real experiences and opportunities for students to get to know the world around them. I continue to wish for the success of such a program as it played a dynamic role in view of the world.