Spotlight on: Rachel Cole

For me, the itch to travel didn’t start until after I was married with kids. Many of my childhood and young adult traveling memories meant long car-rides in the back seat, squished between my brother and sister, to visit relatives. Now as an adult, I still make my kids suffer the occasional road trip, but thankfully we’ve learned to travel, “the right way.”

Rachel Cole, a junior at Stevenson High School, caught the travel bug early due to a travel abroad program the school offers for kids who take either AP Human Geography or AP European History.

Last summer, the trip was incredibly far as they trekked to the island country of Iceland. Rachel said, “I wanted to go to Iceland because it is a very unique and different country and I wanted to seize this opportunity. I would have never thought that two years ago I would have the opportunity to travel with school.”

I learned from Rachel that, “Despite the name, Iceland isn't actually that cold. Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 27 degrees Fahrenheit to 57 degrees Fahrenheit and is rarely below 16 degrees Fahrenheit or above 62 degrees Fahrenheit.” Luckily while her group was there, it was in the mid-50s each day.

Rachel was able to put her teachings from AP Human Geography, which studies how humans develop their culture and leave their mark on the places they live, into practice on her trip. 

“My favorite thing about Iceland was the people. They were all so kind and welcoming to tourists," she said. "I also enjoyed all of the beautiful landscape we saw: waterfalls, glaciers, black beaches, vast planes, and geysers. My least favorite thing was how the sun never sets during the summer, which made it difficult to sleep some nights. During the winter, the exact opposite happens and there's 23 hours of darkness!”

Being a foodie myself, I was curious as to what the regional fare was like in Iceland. Rachel said there was a lot of seafood but that they are known for their lamb, which was the best thing she ate there!

Her trip was chaperoned by teachers Greg Sherwin and Vincent Springer with a total of eight students. Being a small group was advantageous in Rachel’s point of view as the size allowed the students to get to know each other quite well. Rachel wants to study international relations in college so she can continue to travel and explore the world while helping others.

She’s got a great head start with this trip behind her and I’m sure this Icelandic experience will be a great talking point to help her as she goes from high school to college and beyond.