Daniella is now a freshman, taking up a management course at the Ateneo. "She continues to exchange correspondence with her classmates from Spain who want to learn the English language, while she practices her Spanish," Leah intimates. "She’s thinking of going back to Spain for a master’s degree. Definitely, her participation in the IFS Summer Program had a big influence in her life."
Actually, it was Daniella’s older sister Patty who started the IFS tradition in their family. She had just turned 13 and also graduated from grade school when her parents gifted her with the participation in the IFS summer program in Lowestoft in England. "It was a totally different experience for her," Leah recalls. "She learned to commute from her host family’s house to Briar School where she spent her mornings with the other exchange students learning English literature and culture. In the afternoons, they went on excursions to nearby towns and cities with historical interest such as Cambridge, Norwich and even London. Living independently at that young age, she learned discipline and gained self-confidence." Patty is now in her third year in college taking a communications course at the Ateneo. She was the courtside announcer during the recent UAAP games where the Ateneo won their historic victory over La Salle.
"It’s a different kind of travel experience," Leah says of the IFS Summer Program. "It’s not only your usual sightseeing and shopping. For my daughters, it was their introduction to independence."
It was after his third year in high school at La Salle in Greenhills when Richie Ysmael went on his first IFS Summer Program. He was 17. "I think it’s just the right age to go," he says. His mother started talking about sending him when he was in first year high school, but he resisted the idea. He had been taking trips abroad with his family since he was eight years old. All he remembers of those trips were his forays to stores such as Toys R Us. He could not imagine being away from his parents and the comforts of home. In fact, he was resisting up to the time his parents boarded him on the plane to England where he spent his summer at the Oxford English Center, learning British English in the mornings. "We learned to say lift instead of elevator, trainers instead of rubber shoes," Richie relates. In the afternoons, they went on excursions to places such as Shakespeare’s Stratford-on-Avon, the Warwick Castle, and Bath. On weekends, they watched plays in London. After Oxford, Richie joined two more IFS Summer Programs– to Bretigny, a suburb of Paris, in 1998, and Florence, in 2002.
"My Paris experience gave me a broader outlook," Richie observes. His host parents spoke little English so he learned to get by with sign language. He enjoyed the company of his newfound friends, fellow exchange students from the Philippines and other countries. They went on excursions to Paris, Giverny, Euro Disney, and Lourdes.
The three weeks summer program in Florence focused on "Bread, Wine and Language," Richie relates, "after our language class in the mornings, we walked a few blocks to the winery owned by the school where we were introduced to wine-making. We also learned how to make homemade pasta and other typical Tuscan dishes." One afternoon, they took a trip to Siena. They also spent a weekend in Rome, visiting its museums and famous fountains. "My IFS experience is worth more than anything money can buy," Richie attests.
"We look at this as our special vocation," says IFS president Maricar Sedigo. "The most rewarding part is having students come home happy and in awe of the experiences they’ve had and the people they’ve interacted with. It is having parents tell us their children had a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience and that their children are more mature and responsible because of it. We’re helping students acquire direction, focus, and perspective in their lives. In our over 10 years of existence, we’ve had more than enough parents and students attesting to this."
Ginny Isaac, a broker-liaison officer of Lanco Pacific, developers of the upscale Punta Fuego in Batangas, belongs to the first batch that went on an IFS Summer Program to England in 1992. She was 18 years old and a student at Woodrose. "We were introduced to a new lifestyle," she recalls. "It opened my mind and gave me a new perspective." More than 10 years later, her enthusiasm for the IFS experience has not diminished. "It’s a chance that everyone deserves," she says. In Suffolk, she discovered that contrary to popular belief, the English are a friendly people. She was given her own house keys. On her nights out, no matter what time she came home, even in the early hours of the morning, her host parents expected her to come into their room and kiss them goodnight. When it was time for her to return to the Philippines, they cried.
Ginny found the easterly town in England where she spent an unforgettable summer, peaceful and safe. "IFS is very good in choosing the areas for their programs," she remarks. Josephine Sobrepeña, whose daughter Deborah joined the IFS Summer Program in Avila, Spain, agrees. "You feel safe walking in the streets of Avila even in the wee hours of the morning," she relates. "Sta. Teresa must really be taking care of this peaceful walled city." Deborah was 14 years old in 2000 when she spent her summer in Avila. She is now in third year high school in La Salle, Alabang. Josephine, who once worked with Pan Am and who speaks German, French, English, Spanish, and Italian, also served as IFS group leader in Avila in 2001 and in Nice the year after.
Ma. Patricia Villar, a student in Woodrose, will never forget her IFS Seacamp Adventure in Florida in the summer of 2000. She remembers the thrill of night wading, snorkeling, and swimming in a shark pond. "Seacamp was a fun and educational experience," she remarks. "We also had lab discussions, squid dissection, a camp fire, and lots of other games." Raymond Li, a 16-year-old high school student from Xavier, who also joined the IFS Summer Program in Florida in the summer of 2000, remembers the cultural immersion with his host family in Melbourne near Miami which followed the Seacamp Adventure. He remembers visiting the everglades, an alligator farm and a police and fire station. Towards the end of the three weeks summer program, they visited the Universal Studios, Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, and Epcot Center in Orlando.
Elaine Emily Abonal spent a whole year in Appleton, Wisconsin in the US under the IFS High School Exchange Program. Called the "gap year," the program is for high school graduates who would like to spend one year home stay in the US before going on to college. Elaine was 17 when she went in 2001. She celebrated her 18th birthday there. She was the only Asian among the exchange students at the time. "I looked different from the others. I was the foreigner there," she recalls. They admired her tan and asked if her hair was black all year round. They learned that she liked the raspberries which we do not have in the Philippines. So last Christmas, she received five packages from her newfound friends in the US who sent her raspberry things from a T-shirt, raspberry lotion and cologne, to raspberry chocolates. "If I can do it again, I’ll do it every year in every part of the world," Elaine says of her IFS experience. She is now a freshman at the Ateneo studying European Languages.
The IFS summer programs for young adults include a three-week program in Oxford, England where students will study modules of their choice in creative writing, literature or public speaking. The Hotel Restaurant Management Program in Australia provides participants with the practical skills and learning principles through an actual operating luxury hotel, Hotel Sofitel in Melbourne. A three-week Tourism Study Program is also offered in Tasmania, Australia. Non-paid internships in some of Australia’s prestigious companies and organizations where students can acquire valuable work experience and training can also be arranged.
The Chinese Business and Language three-week study program includes visits to the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square as well as field trips to leading companies in China. Individual adult enrolment in this program is also accepted anytime during the year.
Jonathan Co took the Chinese Business and Language course in May 2002. He stayed at the Global Exchange Center, a dormitory for foreigners in the Haidian district in Beijing. He learned about Chinese business culture and had lessons on how to do business in China. He learned Mandarin, "Pinyin style," he relates, "which is phonetic and which was developed especially for foreigners. If the Germans can learn the language, I had no reason not to." A pure Chinese, Jonathan speaks Fookien at home. He is now in his fourth year, taking up management information at the Ateneo. He plans to go back to China after graduation and perhaps spend a year there and learn more about the business environment. "If they have the opportunity, people should travel to gain a global outlook," Jonathan remarks.
IFS has received a number of certificates of appreciation from various schools and has partnered with prestigious institutions abroad. "Some have grown with us through the years, like our partner school, Instituto Español Murallas de Avila whom we’ve worked with for 10 years now," says IFS president Maricar Sedigo. "We’re also affiliated with St. Edmund’s College, the oldest Catholic boarding school in England."
"Our vision for IFS is to broaden the academic and personal horizons of students thereby helping them aspire for and realize goals far beyond the limitations they‚ve set for themselves," Sedigo, who genuinely likes being with students, remarks. "Getting caught up in their energy and enthusiasm ensures there’s never a dull moment and never a ‘sameness’ in what we do. We give students the opportunity to step into a far larger classroom than they’re used to, a classroom composed of people and places with differences, similarities and experiences that most of life’s valuable lessons are drawn from. All of our IFS programs are geared towards this vision."