If someone were to encounter junior Harrison Burke over the summer, they would have found him walking around the cobblestoned streets of Italy or volunteering at hospitals in Tanzania.

  “At the beginning of the summer, I vacationed to Southern Italy and Sicily on a trip with Trinity,” Burke said. “Then during the later part [of the summer] I stayed in Arusha, Tanzania for four weeks where I was a medical volunteer with other 16-18 year olds in Tanzania.”

  Burke went on the school-sponsored summer Italy trip and toured around the country with other Trinity students. He visited multiple cities such as Rome, Palermo, the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii.

  “I enjoyed visiting the Amalfi Coast the most, because I had never seen anything as beautiful,” Burke said. “I got especially close to the people I traveled with while I was there.”

  In Tanzania, he met a variety of individuals from different parts of the world and to share his passion for helping others.

  “I made friends with the other volunteers I was living with as well as the Tanzanians I met when I was volunteering and sightseeing,” Burke said. “This opened my mind to the vast cultural differences in both respects. I enjoyed how many opportunities I had to try new things that were out of my comfort zone, such as visiting a Maasai boma where the chief slaughtered a goat for us. I also enjoyed working with doctors and assisting in surgeries at the hospital.”

  Burke’s travels and volunteering resulted in lasting memories with friends and leaving his impact on communities in need.

  Junior Eashan Kothari and his family visited various places in Brazil, such as the capital, Rio de Janeiro, and the tropical wetlands of Pantanal. While he was in Rio de Janeiro, he toured many monuments and chapels, and while he went on many wildlife safaris and hikes. Pantanal is the world’s largest tropical wetland area, and it is known for its wide array of outdoor activities.

  “I went on nature hikes through the jungle in hopes of seeing some animals,” Kothari said. “My favorite part was seeing jaguar paw prints. I also went kayaking, piranha fishing and horseback riding, which was fun and relaxing.”

 Kothari’s favorite part of his trip was going on jungle safaris.

“On my safari, I saw capybara, caiman, ocelots, jaguars, tapirs, macaws, toucans and so much more,” Kothari said. “My favorite was the jaguar because it was very majestic and beautiful. A really interesting experience I got to see was a jaguar kill a cow. It was really graphic, but it was really cool to see it in nature and in person.”

  Watching sunsets in Santorini to mudding in the Dead Sea are just a few of the experiences sophomore Ainsley Domingue had while watching her brother play for the Luxembourg national lacrosse team in the world championships over the summer. She visited multiple countries such as Luxembourg, France, Germany, Belgium, Israel, Jordan, Greece and Canada.

“Although most of the trips were planned, a couple of the trips to Belgium and Germany were impromptu,” Domingue said. “While I was traveling, I was with the Luxembourg lacrosse team and celebrating my friend’s birthday.”

 Although she had many unique experiences in different countries, her favorite activity was riding through Petra on a camel.  

  “Jordan was definitely my favorite place I travelled because Petra was amazing,” Domingue said. “My favorite experiences were either riding a camel or watching all of the national lacrosse teams play in the world championships.”