Amazing European destinations, this yacht, and you at the helm. Think about it. A boatload of teens took turns at the wheel and had a WHOLE lot of fun in July!
Dispatch From The July Cruise
Taking It All In—St.-Malo • Photo: Samuelle Grande
"I came to Saint-Malo by taking a ferry from Dinard and was immediately charmed by the landscape. On my arrival I walked in a daze searching for Marie-Claude and Yseult, the two boats I would be sailing on for the next few weeks. It was very easy to find them; one might have difficulty missing such an imposing and unique pair. I made my way through the touristic throng that was taking pictures of the boat and found myself in front of Will Sutherland. He greeted me with warmth, inviting me to sit down with him. As I sat down, French boys ran about, tying knots, preparing the sailboat and doing innumerable esoteric acts that I assumed would soon make much more sense to me. Will offered me a cup of tea, and I knew that my experience would be even better than I had expected.
Now, on my fifth day exposed as I have been to sea, sailboat and wonderful people, I can say with confidence that this experience is unique. Everyone on the boat is different. We eat together, laugh together and sail together. We are becoming a team where everyone has his place. With all the backgrounds, histories and cultures I don’t believe that anyone who embarks on this adventure can have a commonplace experience.
Obviously I can only speak for myself, but I truly believe the QBE leadership program is nothing like any other sailing program offered in the world. What distinguishes the QBE program is the independence given to the apprentice sailors by Will. His way of teaching is not to dictate but to lead. He lets us make mistakes so that we learn from them. We are all learning simultaneously, but no two people learn the same way. Thus the lessons remain unique and thanks to Will’s methods, effective. I sat down with Will for an hour and listened with amazement to his wonderful sailing stories. Will Sutherland has this way of grasping your attention and making every story he tells into a lesson. His stories made me understand that, just like us, he learnt from his mistakes.
I have only been on the QBE leadership program for five days but I have already learnt so much in that span of time."
—Samuelle Grande (Montreal, Canada) English is Samuelle's second language.
Learning A Foreign Language
"The whole world speaks English, so I don't need to speak a foreign language." Well... no they don't. And yes you do. According to a Eurostat Adult Education Survey, 63 percent of the adult population in the European Union say they know at least one foreign language. But only 31 percent say they know it well (at a good or proficient level). And some of those are lying—or exaggerating. In the U.S. and UK, acquired second language proficiency is abysmal. The fact is, in a world where geography is becoming increasingly irrelevant, language skills are becoming even more important. And nobody's paying attention. If you think hand-held devices are going to bail you out, don't hold your breath. They're getting better, but they have a long way to go. In international business, proficiency in a second or third language is often as necessary as a business suit. You may be able to get by without it, but people will question your professionalism and educational credentials. Of course, language acquisition is hard. It generally takes years to achieve some measure of fluency in any language, and longer for some languages than others. All the more reason to get started early. So parents, if you're trying to motivate your kids to take foreign language study seriously, send them abroad. There's nothing like international exposure to generate a little enthusiasm.
Great Pic Of The Brittany Coastline...
Photo by JK McCrea
A Harvard Admission Hack?
In a recent article in The Atlantic, David A. Graham discusses strategies for gaining admission to elite universities like Harvard.
“We could fill our class twice over with valedictorians, Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust told an audience at the Aspen Ideas Festival, sponsored by the Aspen Institute and The Atlantic, on Monday [June 30, 2014]. That means admissions officers rely on intangibles like interesting essays or particularly unusual recommendations to decide who comprises the 5.9 percent of applicants who get in.
Faust's top tip for raising a Harvard man or woman: “Make your children interesting! [emphasis ours]”
For parents and students alike, that’s both good news and bad news. The bad news is that of course it’s much easier to say that than to actually make it happen, though Faust recommended encouraging children to follow their passions as a way to develop an interesting personality. It’s much easier to complete a checklist, however daunting, than to actually be interesting.
But the good news is that when colleges use this set of criteria, kids can focus on shaping their teenage years in a way that isn’t just about trying to building up resume line after resume line, and instead focus on a more holistic sense of self [emphasis ours]. That seems like a far more sensible way to move through high school than spreading oneself too thin trying to get a slew of positions one can’t really ever concentrate on. That encourages a dilettantish approach to learning and society that is just the opposite of what the liberal arts have traditionally tried to encourage.
We would humbly suggest that one of the most effective ways to make yourself a bit more interesting is by doing extremely interesting things. And if you can do interesting things in interesting places, so much the better. As for developing a holistic sense of self, well that's what the ELS is all about. We've never thought of our program as a "university admission hack." We prefer to think of it more as a "life hack." But if the shoe fits...
Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/how-to-get-into-harvard/373726/#ixzz36E6SEMBX
Learning By Doing. But Doing What?
That people learn by doing is not very controversial. In fact, that insight has a distinguished pedigree. In antiquity, Aristotle observed: "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." In the twentieth century, educators like Maria Montessori, Kurt Hahn, John Corlette and others all embraced Discere Faciendo.
Today, though, "learning by doing" is taking on new dimensions. The internet has not only introduced abundant new resources for didactic teaching, its interactive capabilities have also redefined what it means to "do." We are now able to create virtual realities that can be explored and manipulated from any hot spot. There are not many places we cannot virtually "visit" or things we can't virtually "do" from an armchair. But it is misguided to conflate the virtual with the real.
Indeed, with the advent of the virtual has come a new appreciation for the authentic. For example, there is now a four-year high school, the Think Global School (thinkglobalschool.org), that packs up and moves to a new location around the world every term. In addition to their traditional studies, students engage in experiential learning through such activities as cultural exchanges, museum tours, and nature expeditions. Of course, just living abroad is an exercise in rich experiential learning. Many other schools also are setting aside a few weeks each year for travel with service and/or pedagogical components.
For those who want both a transformative international experience for their teenagers but also the advantages of a traditional high school education (team sports; regular parental interaction; a local, life-long peer group; etc.) The ELS offers an attractive alternative.
Along The Way: The Blonde Hedgehogs Of Alderney
Alderney: the small Channel Island with seven beaches and, it turns out, a small blonde (leucistic) hedgehog! Now there are many other things to commend Alderney—50 miles of country lanes and paths, a profusion of wildflowers, beautiful sheltered crescent bays, and several Victorian forts and impressive World War II fortifications. There are also 11 notable site-specific stone sculptures by artist Andy Goldsworthy scattered across the island, all made from local materials. All those things stay put. But then there's the elusive blonde hedgehog. Hedgehogs are common across Europe, but these little critters with cream-colored spines are extremely rare, except on North Ronaldsay and Alderney, where around 25% of the population is thought to be blonde. You'll need some luck, but there's a chance you just might get to see one having lunch beside a path.
The ELS In The News:
ELS skipper Arthur Lescault, Program Assistant Davi Barreiros, and ELS Director Will Sutherland
If you can read some French, you should take a look at this article about the ELS that appeared recently in the French press. It's nice to be noticed.
Update: Here's a rough translation:
Will Sutherland's two boats, replicas of a [19th-century] pilot cutter called The Alouette, are returning to service after an extensive renovation. On board, students will learn or hone nautical navigation skills using a very Anglo-Saxon method.
The two replicas of the Malouin [from St-Malo] Alouette have been fully refurbished. Sanded and refinished, Marie-Claude and Yseult are now ready to put to sea again. The non-profit QBE Education is ready to resume its courses where they take young 16–80 [sic, should be 24] year olds on expeditions that leave them different people.
Back To St.-Malo
Marie-Claude and Yseult were built in Falmouth, in Cornwall, in 1996 and 2000 respectively. It was a Frenchman who discovered the plans for The Alouette, a pilot cutter built by François Lemarchand. The Alouette had an exceptional career; excellent upwind, its sturdy construction enabled it to have a 40-year run. As for the replicas, they do the original justice. Their thick fiberglass hulls make them extremely sturdy. Will Sutherland found the boats on the second-hand market in 2010. It's a great story because, thanks to him, they now also have found a home in St.-Malo.
Experience
Will Sutherland is used to teaching youngsters. His method: a sort of "learning by doing." It was developed over the years at a Swiss boarding school [where he taught]. An association of pilot cutters was established in England in 2010. As proof of 30 years of fond memories, his old students are now asking him to take their kids so that they, too, can experience what their parents did between 1975 and 1989, when Sutherland—their teacher—took them sailing on his boat moored at Antibes [in the south of France]. Today, his home port is St.-Malo, "a perfect place to learn how to navigate the rocks, winds, and tides." Sutherland first visited the "City of Corsairs" when he was 10 years old, an experience he has never forgotten.
Accountability
Qualified By Experience, founded in 2010 [actually, 1992] allows youngsters to learn to live together, to work together as a team, and to hone leadership skills—in the English sense of developing the competence as well the charisma necessary to motivate others to do their best. Participants may be novice sailors and they come from around the world. Everything promotes mutual respect and exchange. Everybody must learn to apply the skills necessary to complete all necessary tasks. Sutherland doesn't say very much and doesn't provide solutions to problems. When youngsters aren't told how to do things, they are forced to make their own decisions. Often at the beginning of a course, he asks the participants," Where do you want to be in five years?" It's a way of making them understand their destinies rest in their own hands.
The Advantages Of Early Foreign Exposure
For some reason, many American students get their first European/foreign exposure as 20 year olds. The junior year abroad has become a university tradition. And I'm sure it's a great experience for many young adults. But why at age 20?
Several years ago, in an op-ed for The New York Times, David Hajdu, an associate professor at Columbia, suggested that a youngster's most formative years are actually several years earlier, in high school:
"Fourteen is a formative age, especially for people growing up in social contexts framed by pop culture. You’re in the ninth grade [...] struggling to figure out what kind of adult you’d like to be, and you turn to the cultural products most important in your day as sources of cool — the capital of young life.
'[For example,] Fourteen is a sort of magic age for the development of musical tastes,' says Daniel J. Levitin, a professor of psychology and the director of the Laboratory for Music Perception, Cognition and Expertise at McGill University. 'Pubertal growth hormones make everything we’re experiencing, including music, seem very important. We’re just reaching a point in our cognitive development when we’re developing our own tastes. And musical tastes become a badge of identity.'"
The author specifically cites the impact of music on the 14-year-old psyche. But the same surely can be said of many other cultural influences, including foreign travel. So it seems strange that we would wait several years to consider sending students abroad. By age 20, many notions and attitudes already have started to gell. The reason we hear most often is that people in their 20s are more likely to appreciate the cultural experience. Maybe. But then you can make the argument that people really should wait until age 50 to get on the plane. Teens soak up the experience and assimilate it in a more visceral way.
Any age is a good age for travel. But it seems the younger the traveler, the more malleable the mind. British law makes it difficult for us to accommodate 14 year olds. But if you're 16, we'd love to welcome you aboard.
May's Just Around The Corner
Hey, you missed a spot...
Third Culture Kids‚ Proof Travel Gives You An Edge
Kids who spend time abroad are known in some academic circles as “Third Culture Kids” (TCKs), a term coined by Dr. Ruth Hill Useem, Professor Emeritus at the Michigan State University Institute for International Studies, who has researched the experiences of internationally mobile children. The term TCK suggests that children who spend a portion of their childhood outside of their own country belong to a separate “third” culture, an amalgam of their many international experiences.
Findings of a major study of American-based adult TCKs conducted in the early 1990s suggest that youngsters who spend time abroad were much more likely to do well in school. For example, those who spent at least one year abroad were four times more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree. Of the 81 percent of TCKs who completed a bachelor’s degree, half went on to earn postgraduate degrees. That's pretty impressive.
Of course, some of that can be attributed to parents—many adults who spend time abroad have high expectations for their children because they themselves are well-educated. But not all. Many enlisted men and women in the military spend time overseas with their families. Suffice it to say, there's good evidence out there that early exposure to foreign cultures and experiences can really make a difference in life outcomes, at least as measured by educational achievement.
Intersections
The human heart is an intersection where aspirations and self doubt collide. The ultimate outcome of that struggle defines our lives. And so it is—or should be—the goal of any leadership school to help give the advantage to aspirations. Any other program is really just a camp.
Intersections are places where destinies are forged. Some are personal battlefields where conflicting emotions contend, but others are confluences where life-changing possibilities wait to be discovered. Steve Jobs use to say he lived at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts [in his case, design]. And he was able to position himself in that extremely propitious location because he had traveled some distance down both roads. Whenever you are willing to seize opportunities that expose you to new ideas, places, and experiences, you create the possibility of finding new intersections that can transform your own life, and the lives of others.
Certainly, you don't HAVE to go sailing in Europe to expand your horizons any more than you HAVE to go to, say, Africa to lend a hand as part of a service project. There are always things to see and people to help closer to home. But, like adversity, the experience of foreign travel—particularly culturally rich or spiritually rewarding travel—never leaves you where it found you. In an age when technology and high-speed travel are rendering geography increasingly irrelevant, it still remains true that different cultures, sights, and sounds can point your life in exciting new directions.
The ELS is not spring break on a boat. Yes, it can be lot of fun, but chiefly it's designed to be a challenge, an occasion to redraw personal maps. Each activity and destination along the way is a life intersection—an opportunity to leverage a disorienting feeling of "lostness" in a new environment with a sense of impressive accomplishment and wonder to connect dots that previously were hidden from view. We can't guarantee you'll always be smiling after a long, hard day on the water. But we think it's likely you could be pumping your fists. And that's really the reaction we'd prefer.
Along The Way: Mont Saint-Michel
Commissioned by St. Michael the Archangel himself—according to legend—the first church on the famous tidal island was built by St. Aubert, the bishop of Avranches, and consecrated on October 16, 709. It is said that Aubert initially ignored the archangel's repeated admonitions to build a church but got moving after Michael finally used his finger to burn a hole in the bishop's skull. That would certainly light a fire under you, or... on top of you. (N.B. If you'd like to create some buzz among your friends on Pinterest or Instagram, the purported scarred skull is on display at the Saint-Gervais-d'Avranches basilica.) Today's towering Romanesque-Gothic structure is a palimpsest, the result of numerous additions and reconstructions. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
During the Middle Ages, Mont Saint-Michel rivaled Rome and Santiago de Compostela as a pilgrimage site. And just as Santiago had its "Camino de Santiago" (The Way, or Road, of St. James), Mont Saint-Michel had its "Chemin du Paradis"—several routes that pilgrims (called miquelots) followed to venerate the archangel in his eponymous church (see below). We, on the other hand, tend to just show up—certainly not nearly as redemptive, but much more practical considering our tight schedule.
The base of the abbey church is surrounded by old houses, shops, and throngs of tourists. Near the entrance, you'll find La Mère Poulard, home of the world-famous 30€ omelette. The spécialité de la maison really is delicious and perhaps not such a bad deal when you consider what the souvenirs cost.
It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
It's early April and we've had some good weather. So Davi is taking advantage of the clear skies to put some varnish on the boats. Just like the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz, we have our own "Wash and Brush Up Company" that spit shines our boats every year. And the results are... pretty impressive!
Jersey—A Revelation
We had a great little documentary here, but Youtube took it down. So here’s a pic of people out and about in St Helier until we can find another video. The copy below will give you some idea of what previously occupied this space.
If you've never spent time in Jersey, you'll learn something watching this video: e.g., the 45 square-mile island has a 40 mph speed limit but dozens of Lotuses, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis puttering about. And Jersey chefs contend the island produces the world's best potato, the Jersey Royal. It also has its own Pageant of Roses Parade, but in the summer. It turns out going to very upscale Jersey is a lot like going to Monte-Carlo or Gstaad—only it's bigger and people speak English with a native accent. This video, which aired on PBS (the American public television network) is a little long, but it will likely open your eyes. If you thought "Jersey" was a coastal American state sandwiched between New York and Delaware, you might be surprised to learn New Jersey was once owned by a family from Old Jersey. If you've got the time, take a look. Actually, the first five minutes will have you wanting to book a flight...
Along The Way: The Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum
Consider yourself....at home—right here at the Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum. Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, at 1 Mile End Terrace (today 393 Old Commercial Road), in Portsmouth, the home of his parents, John and Elizabeth Dickens. His father had a job nearby working for the Royal Navy. Even though the original furnishings have long sense been dispersed, you can still experience the authentic atmosphere of the Regency home that sheltered the Dickens family. In fact, much of Victorian Portsmouth still remains in the city’s streets. If you're a Dickens fan, you ought to make the pilgrimage. And what better time than this summer? You can take a virtual tour of the museum here.
"Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true." —Charles Dickens
The Power Of Experiences
In March, The Hyatt Foundation awarded Shigeru Ban its prestigious annual Pritzker Prize for Architecture. Tom Pritzker, the CEO of the foundation, appeared on television to talk about the prize and the power of architecture to transform the "beholder." During an interview, he told the story of taking his family to Bilbao, in Spain, to see Frank Gehry's striking Guggenheim Museum.
"When we reached Bilbao, we could see the change. Honestly, the chemistry in their brains changed. It became an exciting experience not just for them but for us watching as well. So, I do think that architecture can change the human experience..."
It's true. You simply cannot compare seeing a photograph with seeing the real thing. The real has a power to transform that the virtual lacks. That's one reason we encourage parents to allow their teens to experience the wonder of European travel. We teach. We mentor. But allowing a teen to see and soak up all the the sights, history, and culture can have an equally—if not more—profound effect. The ELS is more than an adventure, it's one new experience after another. And we think that matters.
Along The Way: Polperro
Squeezed into a ravine on either side of the River Pol, Polperro's color-washed cottages and narrow, twisting streets look like something out of a theme park. Only... they're not. They're the real deal. The Cornish tourist board touts the Saxon and Roman bridges, the famous House on Props, the old Watch House, and the fish quay as some of the major attractions. But just walking through Polperro is a treat.
Paris has the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay. Madrid has the Prado. In Polperro, the "must see" is the world-famous Heritage Museum of Smuggling and Fishing. It houses a remarkable collection of exhibits and 19th-century photographs, as well as memorabilia dating from the 1700s when both smuggling and fishing were big business along the Cornish coast.
Along The Way: Mevagissey
Easy for you to say. Mevagi... Mevigas... Whew. In fact, Mevagissey is named after two Irish saints: St. Meva and St. Issey. Somebody apparently decided to stick a "g" in the middle to separate the two vowels. In any event, the quaint little port has a distinctive twin harbor that provides a safe haven for fishing boats and pilot cutters. Like so many towns on the coast, it has a clutch of pubs, cafés, and galleries near the harbor walls. Your Pinterest pic collection will get a serious upgrade.
Nearby, The Lost Gardens of Heligan have now been found. One of Britain's most popular botanical gardens, they recently have been completely restored and now brim with a dazzling array of sub-tropical flowers, trees, and plants—the sort of thing your parents probably would kill to see.
The lost gardens of Heligan, near Mevagissey in Cornwall. The gardens, created by members of the Cornish Tremayne family beginning in the 18th century, were effectively 'lost' before being rediscovered and restored.
Along The Way: Fowey
The little port of Fowey is one of the most picturesque towns on the Cornwall coast, particularly popular with the yachting crowd. That would be us. When winds and tides allow, we sometimes can make our way that far west. There are a number of historic buildings there, including the ruins of St. Catherine's Castle and a 14th-century church. You'll also find a number of great little restaurants and bistros. If you like to try local specialties, we recommend the Fowey River mussels. English author and playwright Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989) lived in Fowey (She wrote Rebecca, a Gothic romance about a guy who killed his wife on a boat!), as did Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932), the author of The Wind in the Willows.