“I went on a 15 day National Geographic student expedition to Iceland over the summer. There are different focuses to choose from like photography, film, and climate/geography but I chose photography. We traveled all along the outer edge of the country with a day trip into the center. One of my favorite places was the glacial lagoon where we got to kayak in the glacier water. We were surrounded by icebergs and even had a seal swim past us. We also explored an ice cave near the northern part of the country. We had to carefully, maneuver our way through, avoiding icicles and ice on the ground. It was freezing and pitch black but then one of our guides started playing music on an icicle. He was tapping it in different ways to produce a beautiful melody.

I learned about so many different cultures from the different people I encountered on my trip. There were people from Dubai, South Korea, Hong Kong, Canada, and all over the US. Even though we were all from different backgrounds, we instantly bonded and ended up forming extremely close friendships. I also got to meet and hang out with some local Icelandic kids and even though we couldn’t communicate perfectly, we still had a great time and created lasting memories.”