There’s a particular kind of awe that comes over you when you watch a teenager step fully into their own life — not performing for a grade, not performing for you, but simply being in a place that has asked something real of them. I’ve been lucky enough to witness that across several programs now, three times as a parent and once as the lucky assigned adjunct faculty. Each time, it has been powerful.
Tucson: Curiosity, Community, and a Rounded Experience
This past long weekend, I served as Adjunct Faculty for Proctor’s Global Art Classroom program in Tucson, Arizona. What I didn’t anticipate was how moved I would be — by the students, by the community they had built, by the quality of engagement I witnessed across every part of their day.
These students weren’t just making art — they were living and learning together in a way that touched every dimension of who they are. Academic work, creative exploration, physical place, peer relationships, life skills— it was all woven together. The experience is holistic, and watching students inhabit it fully reminded me of what education can look like when it isn’t compartmentalized. And what struck me most is that this group won’t stop in Tucson. They’re preparing to continue their journey through several cities in Europe, carrying everything they’ve built here into an entirely new cultural landscape. The program doesn’t just take students somewhere; it builds healthier humans.
Proctor en Segovia: Watching My Son Through a Parent’s Eyes
In March, I stood in Segovia, Spain, watching my son complete his semester abroad. He navigated the aqueduct and the cobblestones with ease, carrying the relaxed confidence of a kid who had become genuinely comfortable somewhere foreign.
He was more himself for having been away. What moved me just as much as watching him was witnessing the faculty and staff who had made it possible. The educators who traveled with these students held space for every adjustment, emotion, and logistical challenge and remained on around the clock — far from their own homes and routines — deserve more recognition than they typically receive. Their dedication is what transforms a study abroad itinerary into something that actually changes a young person.
Several Programs, One Deepening Conviction
I watched my daughter — a 2024 graduate — on Ocean Classroom and in Costa Rica, my son through his experience in Segovia this winter, and this past weekend, I found myself in Tucson. Each program was different in geography and focus, and each one left me with the same feeling. I haven’t yet had the chance to observe Mountain Classroom, but I have little doubt it carries the same profound impact. I hope someday I get to witness it firsthand.
These programs work because they are built on a genuine respect for what adolescents can do when given real circumstances to meet. Ocean Classroom asks students to crew a tall ship. Costa Rica asks them to immerse themselves in an environment while living with a host family, unlike anything they have at home. Segovia asks them to become temporary citizens of another culture. Tucson — and soon, several European cities — asks students to engage with the world as curious, capable people. In every case, the underlying question is the same: Who are you when comfort is removed and something challenging is asked of you?
Why This Is Well-Being
As a school therapist working at a school that promotes student health and well-being, I want to say this: these programs are among the most powerful tools for adolescent well-being that I know of.
Emotional resilience isn’t built through a lesson about emotional resilience. It’s built in the moment when a student is three weeks into an ocean crossing and has to choose whether to collapse inward or lean into the people around them. Identity doesn’t develop through a worksheet — it develops in Segovia, when you’re ordering coffee in a second language and discover you can do it, and then start to wonder what else you’re capable of.
Students return from these programs with what I think of as an internal reference point — a memory of having been tested and having met the test. They’ve navigated adjustment, logistical challenges, and moments of unexpected beauty, often simultaneously. That experience becomes a resource they carry for years. I’ve witnessed this resourcing in my now college Sophomore daughter. She, too, knows she’s more resilient because of her Proctor experiences.
Experiential learning isn’t a supplement to education. For many students, it is the education — the part they’ll trust most, return to most, and carry longest. I’ve been lucky enough to watch it happen, more than once, from more than one angle, and every witnessing is affirming!
Kara Hayes, LCMHC, P'24, '27, joined Proctor's Health and Wellness team in 2016 and serves as Lead Mental Health Counselor. Her work focuses on holistic adolescent health – integrating physical, psychological, emotional, social, educational, and spiritual wellness.
Read More About Student Health and Well-Being at Proctor
- Global Art Classroom
- Health and Well-Being
- Off-Campus Program