Intensive Learning @ MFS
The World At Your Fingertips
This is the third part of a multi-part series on Day 1 of the 2026 Iceland Intensive Learning Trip. To see the first part, click here; to see the second part, click here. Despite our vastly different circumstances in life, it was interesting to see just how many similarities our lives had. In the...
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By A.S. and E.L. BAM BAM BAM! I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock that we had set up so carefully last night. It blinked 7:34. It’s 11 minutes before our alarm was even supposed to go off, which still allotted 45 minutes to pack and head to breakfast.“I’m upppp,” I say...
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Waking up at 6:00 a.m. wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. After breakfast at 6:30, we left at 7:00 with our tour guide, Li Shao Jie, and headed to Tian’anmen Square (天安门). Even though the line was long, it actually turned into a really meaningful experience. While we were waiting, we got the...
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By Elijah M. and Allen A. On our fourth day in Panama, we went to the Punta Chame peninsula, where we were able to learn about the importance of mangroves with hands-on activities that included picking and planting mangroves. We learned about why mangroves are essential to the ecosystem in Panama and what we...
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This is the second part of a multi-part series on Day 1 of the 2026 Iceland Intensive Learning Trip. To read the first part, click here. To read the third part, click here. Iceland, we experienced, was ever-dynamic, with its rugged coastline and canceled flights. By Ali S. and Liam R. After breakfast with...
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After our shift, we got a tour from an MFS alumni from 2019. She showed us around the village and all the different attractions the kids get to experience. She also showed us places where we might be volunteering later in the week. Seeing everything really put into perspective how much work goes into...
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Thirty-six hours traveling doesn’t seem like that long … right? The Thailand IL trip started off with three connecting flights: one six hours, one fifteen hours, and the last three hours. Out of 18 students, 5 of them were nervous about the flights and worried about how they could keep themselves occupied, but all...
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After a smooth seven hour flight we landed in Casablanca, Morocco. First, feeling jetlagged, we stopped for coffee before we boarded our vans for Rabat. When we arrived at the Riad we played ice breakers and met our World Leadership School trip instructors Laurie, Madiha, and Khadija. One of our orientation sessions was to journal...
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Looking out at nature, it was clear that there weren’t any typical sights we were used to seeing at home. Everything from the plants to the ocean was so different, and it was really exciting to get a sense of what the rest of our time here would be like. School —> Philadelphia Airport...
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By Makenna This morning we woke up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready for our 8:00 a.m. departure time to head off to our beach clean up and activity workshop. At breakfast there were foods like fruit, cereal, and coffee that we all enjoyed. After breakfast we went on a 15-20 minute drive to...
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To start our day, we landed from a grueling 16-hour flight at the Beijing Capital International Airport, where we got breakfast and made it through TSA and baggage claim with no problems. From there, we met our tour guide, Li Shao Jie, who took us on a bus tour to the Great Wall, where...
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We had an early start at 4:15 a.m., and although it was a long day of travel, everyone was excited to arrive in Florida. Today was a more relaxed day as we settled in. After our flight, we went to Chipotle for lunch and then stopped at Walmart to pick up the items we...
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This is the first part of a multi-part series on Day 1 of the 2026 Iceland Intensive Learning Trip. To read the second part, click here; to read the third part, click here. By Jason Y. and Allan W. Our Iceland IL was nearly canceled. We were supposed to leave around 2:20-2:30 p.m. on...
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