Lauren: Hello, my high school counselor listeners. I'm excited
to bring you another guest episode today. I originally
connected with Neal Crosson over on LinkedIn as he started
following me based on another podcast episode that I shared or
that was shared out. He is colleagues, or knows, Julia
Rogers from around the international gap year student
programs world, I guess you would call it. Julia Rogers was
on a past episode where she talked about gap year programs.
And you'll hear a little bit of crossover here in what Neal has
to offer.
Having lived and studied in Spain, Costa Rica, and Turkey,
Let me introduce you to Neal, and then I'll give you a preview
of what we're going to talk about. I'll let you listen in on
our conversation, and then we'll wrap it up. With over seven
years of experience in international education, Neal
Crosson is passionate about helping students explore unique
pathways in higher education. As national admissions manager at
Verto Education, he guides students toward their first year
abroad, offering academic, cultural and personal growth
opportunities beyond traditional study abroad programs.
he's seen firsthand how international experiences
transform students' academic and personal development. His
background includes teaching ESL, leading gap year programs,
and crafting college admission strategies, all fueling his
commitment to making global learning accessible. Neal
believes every student deserves a chance to gain a global
perspective, and he's here to share how counselors can support
their students in taking that first step towards an enriching,
transformative year abroad.
In this episode, you're going to hear about a unique pathway that
I hope you will find valuable to share with your students, kind
of outside the norm of what you might usually be talking about
when you sit down and talk about your post secondary planning
with them. We talk about a gap year type international
experience. I don't know how to condense it into one sentence
here, but you're going to hear Neal explain what this popular
program is that is honestly becoming more and more popular
with our students who are heading off to college. I'll let
him do the talking here, and then we will chat here at the
end about what we learned from the episode.
You got into this profession to make a difference in your
students lives, but you're spread thin by all the things
that keep getting added to your to do list. I can't create more
hours in the day, but I can invite you into my Counselor
Clique where you'll finally catch your breath. Come with me
as we unpack creative ideas and effective strategies that'll
help you be the counselor who leaves a lifelong impact on your
students. I'm Lauren Tingle, your high school counseling hype
girl, here to help you energize your school counseling program
and remind you of how much you love your job.
Hey Neal, welcome to the podcast. I'm so glad that you're
here to talk about just global perspectives and how that
affects our high school students.
Neal: Thank you, Lauren. And yeah, I'm super excited to be
here. Global perspectives, international education,
experiential education, all of these things wrapped up into
one. This is what I'm here to talk about. This is what gets me
super excited and what I am passionate about. So I'm very
excited to be joining you today.
Lauren: Yeah, we talked a little bit off air about your
background and experience, and I read the listeners your bio, and
all of your experience has been in this world with all different
job experiences, but it's really cool that it has pointed you
back here to continue like leading high schoolers into this
world, which could be really unknown to high schoolers. So
will you tell us what is Verto education? First just go ahead
and give us a little intro to like the people you work for.
Neal: Yeah, absolutely. And I also want to make a note here
that yesterday was National Study Abroad Day. So this
conversation is quite, the timing of it is, is quite good.
Lauren: This is how you're celebrating. You're talking
about this.
Neal: 100%. Yeah, but to answer your question, yeah, what is
Verto Education? Verto Education is a first year or freshman year
of college study abroad organization that is really
trying to pair the best of both worlds between a traditional gap
year experience with the academic backbone of a study
abroad experience. It's not traditional study abroad. It's
not traditional gap year. It is first year abroad.
So all students that are starting in a Verto Education
program are recent high school graduates. This is their first
collegiate experience, and rather than going to a
traditional campus, they're going to be starting in, you
know, one of five different Verto study centers. It's our
study center model, our campuses in miniature. But the idea is
really for students to have an academic experience, earn
transferable college credit while they are immersing
themselves in different country. And the second part of our model
is we exist in the US higher education ecosystem here. So we
partner with dozens of colleges and universities across the
country to really make good on this, this promise for students
to get a gap year without the gap, get the experiential part,
the transformative first year experience, but then to have a
clear path forward to continue their education and graduate
within that four year timeline.
Lauren: Yeah. So as someone who's not sitting here, my
listeners are listening, they're not, they don't have your
website pulled up, so they're hearing this about this for the
first time, I have a couple like practical questions. So when a
student is going into their freshman year, are they, say
around here, going to Clemson University, and then they're
noticing that there's this option to study abroad? Or are
they applying to the study abroad program, knowing I just
kind of want to take a gap year, like, how is a student kind of
piecing this together? Like, this is, I'm going to go on this
experience.
Neal: So I'm going to give you an answer that it's probably a
little bit longer than you might expect. On the one hand, we have
what we call traditional students at Verto. These are
students that are seeking out a first year abroad experience.
Maybe they are, you know, thinking about a structured
academic gap year. Then they come to us, finding us through
our website, finding us through social media, and deciding that,
hey, you know, this is something I'm interested in learning
about, hitting apply and engaging with us from there. The
other part of that is that some of the universities that we work
with actually invite students to Verto Education. They will
select a subset of their first year applicants and decide to
offer them, hey, if you want to come to our institution, if you
want to come to our university, we'd like to see you studying
abroad for the fall semester, or maybe the fall and spring
semester, so the full academic year.
Lauren: That's cool that you mentioned that, because that's
what I was thinking. I have heard of someone doing that at
our school around here that everyone wants to go to is
Clemson. And I don't know if Verto is connected to them, but
I know a girl who went and did that her first semester, and I
thought that was so interesting. I wonder if she chose that or if
the university offered that to her.
Neal: To be honest, oftentimes students are first hearing about
Verto through their university. And the same with the college
counselors, with education consultants. A lot of times when
their student comes in, and this will be in their official
decision letter from that university saying that, hey, I
received this invitation from, and I don't want to show
favoritism here, but we have some long term partners of
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, University of
Vermont, William and Mary for just to name a few, they might
extend this offer to a student that may have been wait listed,
to a student that may have been given a spring admit, or a
student that, in the case of some of our partners, even
denied. And saying that, hey, we see a lot of potential in you.
We would like you to have this experience. And to keep in mind,
these students are earning transferable college credit that
have been, you know, reviewed for articulation to that
university. And assuming that student meets x, y and z, then
they have this sort of guaranteed closed loop back to
that university. For us right now, this is a time of the year
that we colloquially refer to at Verto Education as channel
season, because this is the channel pathway, the invitation
pathway, where right now or soon in the next couple weeks, 1000s
of students are going to be extended this offer across the
country.
Lauren: So it's your busy season right now. You're about to be
answering lots of questions, inviting lots of students in.
Neal: It is our busy season, or really, on the cusp of our very
busy season. Yeah.
Lauren: Okay. Well, for a student who is considering this,
or a counselor who is encouraging a student about an
experience like this, what do you see as an advantage for a
student going and doing a study abroad, especially in a gap year
time like before they go to college?
Neal: Yeah, so a lot of times I think of the Verto experience as
allowing students to reap a lot of the benefits of a gap year, a
lot of the personal growth, experiential learning, really
just building up this, you know, this portfolio of different
experiences that facilitate the growth of that student. So
having them engage in something different is really opening up
the door for what we call finding their why, or finding
that thing that they're passionate about, exposing the
students to something different. And let's say they are, you
know, thinking about a specific college major, maybe this will
give them the confidence to say, like, actually, yeah, this is
what I am dedicating myself to, or really opening up the door to
have this more exploratory experience where that student
can, you know, take different courses, have different
experiences, and decide, like, actually, you know, maybe, uh,
maybe I'm not considering engineering anymore. Maybe I'm
actually considering, you know something else.
So it is trying to give students the breathing space to do
something exploratory while still progressing along their
degree path. I haven't mentioned this yet, but the coursework
that's offered at Verto, it is facilitated through the
University of New Haven, which is our academic provider, or
really our our academic backbone. But the coursework is
meant to fulfill general education courses, anything from
a seminar in academic writing to biology, different business
courses and things like that. So that seems to rest assured that
they are continuing to progress along their degree path, taking
the same kinds of courses they would do as a freshman at a
traditional university, but getting that study abroad
experience at the same time, that global experience.
Lauren: Yeah, that's awesome. Okay, I'm just being curious
right now. I know I kind of read in your bio, you've had some
study abroad type experiences, or you've lived other places.
Can you kind of tell us, give us, like, a little snippet of
your international experiences? Because I'm sure they pointed
you to what you're doing now.
Neal: 100%. Yeah, it's sort of become my, for better or for
worse, my personal brand, in a lot of ways.
Lauren: Your entire personality.
Neal: Exactly right. Oh, yeah. So I've studied abroad more than
most people. By that, I mean I had my first study abroad
experience as a rising senior in high school.
Lauren: Me too.
Neal: Oh yeah? I spent a month in Costa Rica throughout high
school. I always studied the Spanish language. It's been a
huge passion of mine. I studied abroad a summer in Costa Rica,
came back, finished my senior year of high school, and
eventually the Spanish language became my my major in college,
which, of course, led me to study abroad in Spain with a
focus on the international world. I also studied
international development in Istanbul, Turkey. And yeah,
thinking about when I was a college graduate, like many
students, I found myself questioning, what is the path
forward after that, you know, as a recent college graduate. A lot
of questions were sort of, you know, bubbling in my mind of,
you know, what am I going to do? How am I going to enter the
workforce?
And I decided that, Hey, maybe I need a sort of adult Gap Year,
which led me to through some some research provided by one of
my my Spanish professors. I remember he walked in the
classroom and wrote on the board this link that said, you know,
to the Spanish Ministry of Education's website. And he
said, Hey, there's this program where you can go to Spain, you
can teach English. They're not going to pay you a lot of money,
but it's really good experience, and it's the opportunity to live
in a foreign country. So I remember writing that in the
back of a notebook and putting that notebook away, and then
right as I'm about to graduate as a senior, pulling that
notebook back out, finding that link, finding this program
applying to it, and what was originally going to be a one
year stint of teaching English in Spain ended up turning into
three years, a master's degree, and really just a wealth of
experience living in a foreign country, of having to navigate a
foreign country using my second language.
And I decided, okay, the adventure continues. So upon
leaving Spain, I found work as a program instructor at the gap
organization of a company, and I ended up leading programs for
about a year in Hawaii. So not exactly International, but
working directly with students that are seeking out something
different, something transformative, that are wanting
to, you know, engage with the world in a different way,
through volunteering, outdoor education, through, you know,
just learning about Hawaiian culture. And then I found Verto,
and they were, they were seeking out someone based in the DC
metropolitan area as a regional admissions counselor. So that
was sort of my bridge between study abroad gap to now, sort of
entering the world of higher education, which I feel like is
a perfect metaphor for my own organization, for Verto
Education, because it's really what we are trying to
accomplish. It's a lot of things, but blending the best of
a lot of what these different programs have to offer.
Lauren: That's cool. I did a study abroad before my senior
year of high school as well, in Salamanca, Spain, and I look
back and I'm like, How did my parents just let me go to Spain
for like, five weeks? Like, would I do that for my kids? I
mean, I hope so. A lot of the characteristics that you were
describing of, like, I came back more independent, and I think my
parents already did a pretty good job of, like, making me
advocate for myself in a school setting and whatever. So this
was kind of the icing on the cake, but it made me confident
to go live away from home, and, you know, be an adult at 18
years old. I was ready for that.
And so I do think there are so many, so many skills that come
from, from leaving your home and kind of doing that still in a
safe place where you have supports, you have teachers, you
have program leaders. You're not totally on your own, backpacking
somewhere, but you have the support of a program, which is
pretty cool.
I wanted to ask you, counselors are listening to this. Maybe
they have in mind the students who are these, like high
achievers, who they say, Oh yes, they're going to be perfect to
go study abroad, you know, wherever it is, whenever it is,
whether it's before their freshman year of college or
during college. What kind of characteristics would you say a
counselor should be looking for in a student who they would who
they would encourage to go do this? Or would you say anyone is
kind of qualified to do it? What should a counselor like be
looking for in that student first and foremost, before they
refer them to a program like this?
Neal: So I'll give a bit of a nuanced answer here. You know my
personal stance is that anybody can benefit from this type of
experience. That being said, the world of study abroad is it's a
self selecting population. While anybody can benefit from it,
it's not necessarily the best experience for everybody,
particularly at different times of their life. They're going to
want to see some students that are, I think, exhibiting a bit
of independence, exhibiting a bit of maturity. And, of course,
these are the same kinds of things that the students will
ultimately receive as benefits from participating in a program
overseas. But they have to, that student does have to recognize
that, hey, you know, I'm going away to college, which already
in itself is a big leap, and then to add the layer of I'm
going away to study in a collegiate environment in a
foreign country, that's when you know reality might start to set
in. And think like, oh my goodness, this is a daunting
experience.
Lauren: Yeah, I think that's a great point. They have to have a
So that student, I think, should be fully prepared in terms of
the research they put into it, of understanding what that
experience is going to be like. You know, with the college
counselor, I think, kind of facilitating that, that
research, or facilitating, you know, just thinking about those,
those ideas. But they're going to want a student who's going to
display some of that maturity, some of that independence. They
are going to have to understand that to study abroad is exactly
that. It is to study abroad and not just to be abroad, which, of
course, in different countries, there are going to be different
temptations than you would expect, compared to a, you know,
for that student being in the United States. So having that,
that ability to, you know, to self regulate and to advocate
for oneself, I think, are going to be hugely important,
especially when those traditional support networks,
family, counselors, things like that, are not going to be
present with them on site, at least in traditional sense,
being able to self advocate in front of, you know, the program,
staff, the directors, the faculty and country is going to
be hugely important.
little bit of that independence and maturity already, but
they're only going to come back with more of it if they take
advantage of the program and they grow in the way that you
intend them to grow. Because I'm sure there are kind of
milestones as they're there, like you're going to class,
you're passing your classes. You get to go on adventures on the
weekend, like there are probably so many fun things, but they
have to be able to balance it all and and do it all in another
country, which might be intimidating.
I'm sure parents have thoughts on programs like this too. I
mean, maybe parents or students, their hesitations. What would
you say to parents or students whose hesitations are the cost
or affordability or safety? I mean, that's a big thing when
the parents are sending their students far away. And then
transfer credits, because we're talking about a program that
they're earning credits that are coming back to their school. So
how, how do you address these big topics that are surely gonna
come up as they're doing their research about stuff like this?
Neal: Oh, man, yeah, when it comes to, I guess, the parental
response to the idea of studying abroad, I see a lot of you know,
a full spectrum of different reactions in there. On the one
hand, you have parents that are like, do it. This is the best
time in your life to do it. You know, oftentimes they have study
abroad experience themselves, and they are reflecting on that
and thinking like, oh, man, if you can do this as a freshman,
go ahead, do it. You're going to have an amazing experience. On
the other hand, you do have parents are a little bit more
guarded, a little bit more hesitant with that, thinking
about like, oh, you know, whether it's first year abroad
or a gap experience, this misconception that there's going
to be a lack of structure, or there's going to be a lot of
distractions, you know, for that student in place.
So I think reassuring parents that you know, in the context of
first year abroad, students aren't just they're not the
traditional study broad population. These are young
adults, ages 18, 19 years old, trying to not only navigate a
foreign environment for the first time, but a collegiate
environment for the first time. And with that as a first year
abroad program, we have to, you know, make sure that there is a
high level of student support in place in country, you know
things like safety protocols, student orientations, where not
only are we showing them, you know what to do in the case of
emergency, what numbers to call, what staff to call, but you know
even some life skills. How do you feed yourself? How do you
navigate a grocery store in Florence, Italy, for example.
How to use a gas stove, which, you know, is surprisingly not
intuitive for a lot of students. So letting them, you know,
letting parents know that there's going to be a high level
of support in place for their students through, you know, we
have a role at Verto called our Student Success Advisors, or
SSAs, which are program staff that work with a cohort of about
30 students per advisor. And this person is, you know, is a
former program instructor for, for gap. I have a lot of respect
for these professionals, because they wear a lot of hats. They
are the big brother, big sisters, older siblings, for a
lot of these students, providing mentorship, socio emotional
support as well as academic support to make sure that that
student is having a positive experience while abroad.
Lauren: Well, it's cool that they're that person exists
there, because think about our students going off. They're
going to make mistakes. They're going to run into something,
whether they get sick there, and they don't know what medicine to
take because their mom has always given it to them, like
the things that you find in the transition to college, they're
going to have that in another country. And so how they're
going to respond to that is going to test their independence
and maturity, but having somebody there and knowing how
to use the supports, I feel like, is going to be a way that
they're going to grow when they're there.
Neal: And that's why I say that, you know, and this is something
that we try and still in our students, is that idea of self
advocacy, of self authorship, of when there's a problem that
arises, the quickest way to solve it is by addressing it
with, you know, with the resources available, with the
staff on hand. Not to call mom and dad and play this game of
telephone where mom and dad then emails our Dean of Students, and
Dean of Students then talks to the program staff, and by the
time that loop closes, the problem was resolved already,
you know, a week ago, right?
Lauren: I mean, that's never happened before, right?
Neal: Oh no, no, never, never, never. But it is, I mean, that
is the reality of working with first year students, is they
need an extra layer of support, compared to your juniors or
seniors in college that have two, three years of college
already under their belt, so they know how things work. They
might know how to advocate or self regulate a little bit
better than some of these younger students. And you had
asked a question for seeing some concerns that parents might have
about maybe some of the more logistical aspects of the
program, you know, talking about the transferability of credits,
for example.
Lauren: Because I'm sure the parents want to know like, Hey,
you're doing something that's going to make sense with what
you said your path was going to be. Because I bet they come into
this like, Well, I was gonna go straight to college, but this
opportunity came up. So the parent wants to know, like,
you're going to keep continuing with that plan, right?
Neal: That is a common scenario where you know a student might
come and say, like, Hey, maybe I want to have this experience
before committing to a four year school. And parents are like,
Oh, well, I don't want you backpacking across Europe for an
undefined amount of time. So where are the guardrails? What's
in place? Where's the structure here? In the context of Verto,
at least, you know, we work with an academic provider, as I
mentioned, which is the the University of New Haven. So the
the courses that students are taking will be coded for
University of New Haven. The transcript will reflect
University of New Haven. If, you know, if I'm thinking about a
transfer applicant from Verto, and they are, you know, at a
different institution, they're looking at that student's
transcript, it'll be like, Oh, this was a University of New
Haven transfer student. But in reality, it's actually, oh no,
this student spent a year overseas.
So with that, the student is gaining, you know, an official
college transcript, so schools that will accept transfer credit
from the University of New Haven are definitely on the table in
terms of what comes after that Verto experience, and to
reassure parents that their child is getting, is earning
credits from a regionally accredited institution. And then
with some of the partner schools that we work with, some of the
pathways that we have in place, we have this awesome direct
transfer pathway that dozens of different schools have set
individual eligibility requirements in terms of GPA,
number of credits earned, number of semesters completed with
Verto. Andassuming that student would reach those, those
different checkpoints there, then they have dozens of
different direct transfer schools, schools that are
guaranteeing admission to students based on their Verto
performance.
So from the student support side, you know, there's a lot of
support on the ground for that, for that student, it's the
reality of the population that we work with. For the post Verto
plan, the academic credentials that student is earning are
widely transferable to schools across the United States, but
especially to the partner universities that we work with.
Lauren: What you're saying, what I'm hearing you say, is, you do
a lot of the back end kind of research of transferring those
credits, and someone who comes in either directly through Verto
or through their university, it's like y'all have already
worked through how we transfer the credits, how they show up on
your transcript, making sure all those things are seamless. They
just go get good grades in their classes, and the parents can
rest assured, they will transfer, like you can have that
conversation up front, but they're going to transfer how
they're supposed to if, because I assume you're doing that work
behind the scenes, to make sure that happens.
Neal: 100%. And you know, if I, if I were a business student,
right now, a business grad student, I would definitely use
Verto as a an interesting case study, because there's a lot of
moving parts, a lot of collaboration across different
institutions that Verto works with. So yeah, we put in, we
have a lot of hard working folks here that are very mission
driven by the idea that, you know, we need more students
getting out there and having these global experiences now
more than ever. So we are very dedicated to making sure that,
you know, not only we talk to talk and in this gap year
without the gap experience, but we also walk the walk in, in
terms of providing students with that, that continuity forward.
Lauren: Yeah, I love that. And it's not just traveling, like
you said, putting on a backpack and going to Europe for an
undisclosed amount of time. Like there are guardrails here that
say, like, this is my plan during this time, when I finish,
I'm going to go transfer here. It gives parents reassurance. It
gives students a goal to work towards. And I think it's a
really cool program and a cool opportunity that I mean, you
might tell me it's been around for 100 years, but it feels like
more of a newer, popular thing that colleges are offering for
students these days. Like you said, whether it's they were
deferred, they were rejected, this is just an opportunity we
want to present to you to see if you're interested. And more and
more students are doing it, which I think is cool.
Neal: 100%. Yeah. And I think you are hitting on something
there, that first year abroad as a concept is, it's fairly new. I
mean, there are some institutions that have, you
know, historically had a first year abroad program in place,
and UN is one example that, Northeastern University is one
example that comes to mind. Our organization,we've only existed
since 2017, we've been able to work with about 3000 students
since then. But it is becoming something more more popular
amongst students, amongst universities, as something that
they want to offer. If they're a large university that can
facilitate, let's say, multiple campuses internationally, then
they might have a first year abroad program in place, where
Verto, we sort of serve as in the middle there, working with
lots of universities that maybe, you know, it's not a great
solution for them to have a bunch of international campuses
where they would send students for that first semester, that
first academic year.
Lauren: Well, I'm sitting here thinking about counselors having
these conversations with students in their office.
They're planning for the future with students and parents in
their office, like individual meetings. And I just think that
this episode will be super valuable to them, just to
consider this as a pathway, as they're laying out, where their
students could go after high school. Because we often will
spout out two year college, four year college, straight to work,
military, like those are kind of like your four main pathways.
And we're good at talking about those four things, we get a
little nervous talking about things that could be a little
different, because we're not sending hundreds of kids from
our, even our big high schools, to go do this. It might be one
kid a year, or every couple of years, who takes this challenge
and runs with it, but I hope that this episode could just be
a thing that goes, filed in the back of their mind, so that when
a student kind of mentions wanting some adventure or
wanting to try something different, where they have that
letter from the university and they say, What is this? I don't
know what to make of this, help me, that they can hear a little
bit about a program like this and think, Okay, that's a
pathway that I could send some of my students on. I think this
information will be really valuable for counselors to take
back to their students.
Neal: Yeah, and, you know, I appreciate that. I think a big
part of my role is really to educate counselors, you know, on
this subject, or really to maybe try and bring down some
resistance to the idea of trying something new or trying
something different. and this just represents a stepping stone
along that. It might not be, you know, starting on that
traditional campus, that first year, there might be the the
sacrifice of having to miss those big, you know, football
games and events like that, but trying to help students
understand that like you know, this, this ultimately is part of
the bigger picture here. This is ultimately helping you achieve
your goals and just giving students that reassurance of,
you know, hey, maybe consider it from this angle. Maybe
understand that this is a viable part of your college experience,
just in a different way.
Lauren: Totally. And with anything there are trade offs.
Like you said, yeah, maybe you missed the freshman orientation
or the first home football game, but okay, you are hiking in the
Alps, or you're like, rafting in Costa Rica, or something like, I
promise you're gonna have some unique experience to come back
and share with friends that you make.
Neal: Well, easier said than done. Trying to tell a young
adult that, like, Hey, you might miss out on what everyone else
is doing but in the greater context of your of your life,
you know, taking that, that trip to Spain, you know that that
might represent a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Lauren: Right, that would be hard. That would be hard.
Neal: I do work with a lot of adults that when they learn
about, you know, these kinds of experiences, when they learn
about Verto Education, they think, where was that when I was
in school? Or, man, I wish I had, I had studied abroad. And I
would make the argument that the freshman year is is likely the
best time to study abroad, without the constraints of major
specific courses, without the constraints of different social
relationships, which are, you know, powerful factors in your
late teens, early 20s.
And just being able to live in a foreign country or experience a
foreign country is the closest that you can get to living a
second life, in my mind. And who wouldn't want to experience
that, maybe I'm biased here, but who wouldn't want to experience
that, that formative period. And to be able to look back, you
know, 10, 20 years from now and reflect on on that, and then
say, like, Hey, I took the leap. I did it, I pushed my comfort
zone, and I gained a lot from it. And that is what we, that is
the argument that we try and make to students all the time,
which, you know, doesn't always work.
Lauren: But it's worth a shot.
Neal: Worth a shot, of course, historically easy to to persuade
population right? Kidding, of course. But yeah.
Lauren: well, hopefully a counselor, hearing you say that,
and just like hearing all the value that comes from that,
that, like I said, goes in the back of their mind when they're
having that conversation, saying, you know, I think you're
a great candidate for this, and I think that you'll only grow
because of it. I love the point you made about really doing this
before you're invested in friendships and community at the
school, like they can do that their sophomore year or after
that summer period, whatever that is, they're going to
assimilate and find their way into that and find their friends
when they get there. But it is harder to peel away from
leadership positions that you're taking or you're going to be a
TA for a class you had to apply for that, like those kinds of
things, are harder to pull away once you're already invested in
the community. So I do think it would be really advantageous to
do this in between high school and college. So this was a great
conversation.
After they have listened to this. Is there somewhere where
counselors should go for more information? Should they go to
your website? Should they be looking at colleges websites
with their students? Like, what should they do to get more
information next.
Neal: absolutely. Yeah. So for Verto specific things, of
course, the vertoeducation.org. That is our website. And you
know, within that, we have a lot of great resources, not only
detailing our different campuses, our course
registration guide, which I think is going to be hugely
important for counselors, in particular, thinking about their
students, of if they participate in Verto, how will those
individual courses, how might they transfer? So we provide our
our syllabi online with the University of New Haven course
codes. So for any transfer equivalency tools out there,
it's just kind of, you know, plug and play with those course
codes.
We have a blog on our website with a ton of different
resources detailing some common student experiences. You know,
how to finance your your time abroad, what to expect, how to
apply for a passport, things of that nature. But for general
information, you know, I think gooverseas.com is a great
resource for that. It's sort of the Yelp of of this
international education world with tons of different programs
that are listed and available, including our own. I myself, I
run a counselor webinar series that details different parts of
thestudent experience. What does academics look like at Verto?
How do we incorporate experiential learning in our
classroom? So any one of those, those different resources, both
to learn more about us and also learn more about what other
programs are out there.
Lauren: Well, it sounds like they have a lot of learning
opportunities if they want to actually learn more for their
own professional development. But also, I mean, I would take
this information and put it on my school counseling website,
put it on my school website, so that students know it is a
different pathway than maybe they've heard of before that
it's even a thing. Because just exposure to something new, I
think, is really powerful for our students, especially if they
don't have siblings or parents who have done study abroad. This
would be a whole new thing, but they might be the right student,
and this might be the right fit for them. So thank you, Neal,
for being on the podcast. This was super insightful, really
helpful, to give our counselors just another option for their
students as they're planning their post secondary options.
Neal: Lauren, thank you so much for for having me on here the
day after National Study Abroad day. Yeah, I really enjoyed our
conversation, and I'm excited for your listeners to hear it
too.
Lauren: Awesome. Thanks.
Okay, wasn't that inspirational to hear Neal talk about this
program that maybe you haven't considered? You heard me mention
in the episode that I did a study abroad program when I was
in high school, and talking to Neal just got me reminiscing on
that. I thought about all of the characteristics that I developed
when I was there, and the growth opportunities that I had to be
pushed out of my comfort zone and grow while I was still in
high school, which is wild. But I don't think people look back
on an experience like this and say, I wish I wouldn't have done
it. You hear more of the I wish I would have done it. I wish I
would have taken more time to do this. What he was kind of
echoing from parents saying, I wish I either had that
experience or wish I could go back and do it again. And I'm
sure if you had an experience like this, you listened to this
episode and thought, wow, what I would give to drop everything
and go study abroad in another country. It would be really
cool, right?
So I hope you take Neal's resources, whether that's the
webinars that he offers to counselors or just the websites
that he offers, and share them with your students. Let them
know that this is an opportunity for them that maybe they haven't
considered before. Or maybe when they get that admissions letter
from their college that they're planning on attending next year,
and it offers them an opportunity to go study abroad,
point them to this episode, or point their parents to this
episode. I know I'm talking to you as high school counselors,
but if it could help others, share it out, let them know what
is out there and that this is a viable opportunity for them. I'd
love to just spread this message far and wide and let people know
that there are true advantages to having a global perspective
as our students move from high school into the college arena.
So I hope this episode was helpful for you and gave you
some new ideas as you're working with your students. I'll see you
next week.
Thanks for listening to today's episode of High School
Counseling Conversations. All the links I talked about today
can be found in the show notes and also at
counselorclique.com/podcast. Be sure to hit follow wherever you
listen to your podcast, so that you never miss a new episode.
Connect with me over on Instagram. Feel free to send me
a DM @counselorclique. That's C, L, I, Q, U, E. I'll see you next
week.