12th Graders on IB Week Without Walls in Crete

No Walls, Only New Horizons: 12th Graders on IB Week Without Walls

 Last year was hard for the whole school but perhaps for our class in particular, as we were going through the first, maybe most important, year of IB DP studies almost the entire year online. Even though everyone partially got used to distance learning, the “socialization” element was still missing. However, the start of twelfth grade gave us a completely different, now happy-to-connect-with-each-other mood! 

Our grade 12 went on the ”IB Week Without Walls” trip to Crete, and even though it lasted for just a bit less than a week, it was a wonderful and admirable “without walls” experience!

During these five days, we stayed in Rethymno, a cozy town located on the island’s north. On our very first day, we had a great time exploring this place and its history that amazed each of us. The whole town was very authentic in representing Greek culture and people, especially when you know what it went through before it achieved its true identity. 

It seems that identity and culture could summarize the whole initial mission of our trip. We met potters, tour guides, cooks, turtle savers, and even divers, who somehow reflected Greece and its unique culture. Our entire program was filled with loads of different activities, and it certainly gave us a true chance to get to know each other better and spend a great time together.

While driving around the whole island, we bonded through exploring different places, cooking traditional Greek meals, diving into the depths of marine life, dancing, pottering, and hiking. That being said, such an active program surely needed full immersion and understanding, that’s where CAS reflections came in handy and gave many of us some precious thoughts on what we experienced.

Each of us learned how important it is to be flexible when exploring other cultures. You need to embrace the way things are done in other countries and can definitely change your perspectives from experiences like this. The whole purpose of traveling seems to be expanding your horizons and starting to see things in a completely different way. That’s exactly what this trip was all about and we believe that was a perfect start for the last year of our journey in the incredible community of AISV! 

Wishing all the future travelers the same happy adventures!

Andrey and Adriana, 12 grade students