LATITUDES

Group Semester Overseas + Focused Volunteer Placement

Latitudes is Carpe Diem's seven-month personalized study abroad program that allows for a broad exposure to a fascinating region of the earth with a group of peers, followed by three months of focused solo work and travel in a country of your choice.

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  • A Latitudes-specific orientation focusing on volunteer placement, your college curriculum, and group dynamics
  • 12-week experiential group semester of language, service and cultural immersion
  • A three-month solo volunteer experience of your choice
  • Up to 36 quarter-credits of lower-division (freshman & sophomore) college credit

We've learned through experience that group travel followed by an independent volunteer placement forms a natural progression that leads to the maturation and personal development of the individual. Both experiences provide a full palette of physical, mental, social, spiritual and cultural challenges.

The first semester, with a group, creates a cooperative learning environment and teaches students the skills they need to both live as a part of a community and to travel safely.

The second semester, or individual volunteer placement, inevitably asks students to confront themselves, their own culture, and finally a foreign culture, independently though and with the tools they will have learned in their first group-semester.

 

 

LATITUDES DETAILS

ORIENTATION

There is a 2-day Latitudes orientation that starts the program, which is typically held in Portland, Oregon. During this time, students meet individually and as a group with Carpe Diem office staff and trip leaders to orient to the program and academic work requirements. This is also the time that we narrow your selections for the solo volunteer placement semester. This is accomplished by one-on-one meetings with Carpe Diem staff as we talk about student goals and interests, and begin to determine what students are truly looking for in their Latitudes year. The time frame for the volunteer placement is flexible, though most students choose a three-month volunteer or internship position.

Group Semester

The group semesters for Latitudes are done in conjunction with one of our tried and true group programs going to either Central America, South America, India, East Africa, Fiji/Australia/New Zealand, Indigenous Americas, Southeast Asia, or Brazil. Please click on a link to the individual semester that most appeals to you for further details.

Gap Year Trekking in the Himalayas

Most students doing a Latitudes year choose a program that will provide them a progression of difficulty such that they start on a group semester they feel comfortable with, and progress to somewhere more personally challenging for their individual internship. Other students jump right into the deep end and choose a group semester they know will be exceptionally challenging to be followed by something way out there such as teaching English on a remote atoll in Micronesia.

Mid-Program Break

During this period students return home. They use this time to catch their breath, complete their college credit courses, rest and take time to integrate the experiences of the group semester of travel, get needed immunizations, re-pack their bags for the solo internship, and make any other needed internship preparations.

Solo Volunteer Placement (12 weeks)

Following the mid-program break, students travel on their own to do volunteer work and/or study in a country of their choice. This builds on the semester group travel, and allows for tailored career or other exploration and language acquisition. Traveling solo to another country and working in a new situation follows naturally on the heels of the guided group semester. We typically are able to arrange for our students to be met at the airport by the program sponsor, who then gives the intern an orientation to their work and living situation.

While traveling abroad, Latitudes students stay at homestays, guesthouses, or other situations arranged by internship sponsors. They generally live as the locals do or slightly better. This is generally simple, but not primitive; most of the time we have a bed to sleep in and running water. Food is basic, and the primary challenges are homesickness, culture shock, cold, heat, rain and bugs.

Past volunteer placements have included: work in schools and orphanages in India, Central America, South America, Africa, Europe and the U.S, art study in Mexico, work with wildlife in Greece, Central America, South America or Africa, the study of kung fu in China, language study anywhere in the world, environmental work in Central and South America, work with street children in Guatemala, outdoor education in New Zealand, organic gardening in Patagonia, and much, much more. Once the solo placement is completed, Latitudes participants can do one additional internship placement of any length during the year following the completion of the first.

 

 

COURSEWORK

Each LATITUDES student is enrolled in courses through Portland State University, and upon successful completion of the program can earn up to a total of 36 quarter-credits. These are lower-division credits, the equivalent of a semester in a B.A.-level program and are used best for either Freshman or Sophomore credits. PSU is fully accredited by the Northwestern Association of Schools and Colleges (NWASC).

Everything that is studied and learned is directly relevant to the program activities. Daily writing and reading are an integral part of the curriculum. Please visit our PSU page for more information on the 25+ course we offer, transferring credits, and our partnership with Portland State University

 

Portland State University Carpe Diem Gap Year Partnership

 

 

 

LOGISTICS

APPLICATION & ADMISSIONS

Interested applicants must send fully completed application and must have a telephone interview with a Carpe Diem staff member. Once an application is received, we contact the applicant to arrange the interview. There is no application deadline - we accept people until the program is full and then create a waiting list.

Upon acceptance into the program, students receive a detailed preparation packet and an account is created for them on the Carpe Diem Student webpage. The packet and regularly-updated semester web page, covers program details, transportation, gear & equipment, health & immunization info, communication during the program, climate & living conditions, college credit and financial aid, detailed trip itinerary with contact info, required documents & paperwork, financial details & tuition agreement. Once accepted, participants must choose between the group programs in Central America, South America, India, East Africa, Australia/New Zealand/Fiji, Brazil, or Southeast Asia.

Semester Group Size: 6 to 12 participants per group (depending on the program you choose). One male/female co-leader team per group.

REQUIREMENTS

Minimum age is 17 by the start of program. No age maximum. Participants must be able to attend the full program. Anyone in good physical condition should be able to do the program successfully.

 

 

Health, Safety and Communication

The safety and well-being of our students is our first priority. We have safely sent over 1000 students all over the world during the past decade. The current world situation raises questions for our students, their families and friends, and it is very important that you feel confident and secure as you embark on a program involving international study and travel. We constantly monitor the world situation through the U.S. State Department, and through a network of individual and organizational contacts in 33 countries that function as our eyes and ears on the ground. We design and modify our group semesters to avoid hot spots, health risks & political trouble, and the spring internships are arranged with safety as a primary consideration.

Our field staff are experienced both as travelers and leaders, and each group of students travels with two staff members to ensure that any individual emergencies can be given the attention needed for resolution. During the solo internship period each student stays in regular contact with Carpe Diem program staff, and relates primarily to an in-country program sponsor who is directly responsive to their needs.

LATITUDES starts with an orientation in the U.S. before any travel commences. Once in-country, we continue with the 1st semester student-group for another three days of orientation that has the meaning of immediacy given where the students are - allowing us to give a comprehensive orientation, get a good sense of each of the participants, and lay down a foundation for healthy group dynamics. Throughout our travels, participants have ready access to medical attention, potable water, clear information about health risks, and an in-country orientation about each new place we visit. The program is designed to move from more structure to less over the course of the year ñ allowing each participant to become a seasoned traveler before striking off individually during the internship phase.

 

 

COST:

The cost for LATITUDES is $17,900 and includes the following:

  • All scheduled program activities, room and food during the group semester
  • Internship costs up to a maximum of $2,500
  • International Medical, Medical Evacuation, and Lost/Stolen Item Insurance
  • College credit through Portland State University (up to 36 quarter-credits)

The cost of the program does NOT include:

  • The cost of any required books
  • The cost of one-way transportation to Portland, Oregon for the Latitudes orientation
  • The cost of one-way transportation at the completion of your group semester back to your home
  • Group Semester International airfare - usually runs between $1000 and $2800, depending on the semester
  • Individual Internship airfare - this cost will vary depending on where each internship is located
  • Personal spending money

Each student's family signs a payment agreement that spaces payments out over the first three months of the program. For information on Financial Aid click here.