The start of a new year seems like a great time to look back at the start of this venture even as we also look ahead to launching our first cohort.
Have you ever been on a trip that changed your way of thinking or looking at the world? Imagine now if that trip happened during your formative years and it set you on a path that you might never have seen. Maybe this has happened to some of you. Either way, keep that thought in your mind while you read on.
In 2019, I escorted 8 teenage students across the pond to New York City. Interesting choice of travel mates, I know. But for me, the opportunity of showing young people the mind-expanding experience that is travel is a privilege. Educating young people is my job, after all! I’m a 6th form (high school in the U.S.) teacher in England and specialize in finance classes and football (soccer) training.
Who knows where I would be today if not for my own fateful travel experiences when I was young. While high school travel may be the norm for some people, many of the students at our school come from economically challenged families and over the past several years, I’ve noticed how my own background was similar to theirs with one exception: the opportunity to travel.
It turned out that I had talent on the football field, which afforded me the chance to travel to different parts of the USA and Europe for a variety of international tournaments. I saw different cultures, ways of life, tasted new food, and heard different languages. Those trips started my mind thinking of possibilities greater than the small town that our socio-economic status chose. Don’t get me wrong—I had great teachers/coaches along the way, but taking me out of my environment helped me see that there’s more to life than what was directly in front of me. It was frustrating to think that my students would likely not have the same learning experience just because of a small twist of socio-economic circumstance. Hence, my drive to create that opportunity for them. So I did it. I escorted a small group of students out of their environment. And what better place than New York City? The city where, if you make it there, you can make it anywhere.
These students needed to be exposed to the fact that there are more jobs/professions, social environments, and lifestyles out there than they know about. Since finance is a major sector in England, it was clear that the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street were going to be on our list, but for a more well-rounded experience, so was the United Nations, the British Consulate, Madison Square Garden, Central Park, and Broadway. If I hadn’t seen the students’ faces, I don’t think I could ever have imagined their reactions to everything from the biggest skyscraper to the smallest moments. Bright, wide-eyed, and eager to soak everything in. It was clear that being an ocean away from home made a big impact on the students that opened up their minds in ways even I didn’t expect.
And then came the moment, as you may have read on our About page, when I saw a student’s mindset change and put him on a course to university. I had hoped to repeat the experience with a new set of students the next year, but we all know what happened. Luckily, my co-founders had bigger ideas and HIGH BEAM was born. I can’t say how much I look forward to our launch and see how many others the ripple effect of one student’s experience touches. Watch this space.
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