Travel shapes youth, as the saying goes. At the YMCA, we couldn’t agree more. But what are the clear gains for adolescents who travel? Experts who lead the Y’s youth exchange programs share the following five benefits for youth to travel during this transformative time of their life.
- Gain autonomy and independence
For most of our exchange programs’ participants and youth in general, their first travel exchange is synonymous with their first experience outside of their family cocoon. This can be challenging and pushes youth outside of their comfort zones. Navigating a different environment with new people, coping with the unexpected, and managing their schedules are essential skills that'll serve them well as they transition to young adulthood. This “first flight” outside of their usual environment offers opportunities to test, and greatly improve, these skills and build resilience and self-confidence.
When we measure youth confidence before and after our exchange programs in different skill areas, we see that they experience significant changes in their autonomy and self-confidence. More precisely, pre–- and post-program reports show that participating youth feel a significative increase of confidence in their communication, critical thinking and employability skills by 40%, 17% and 23% respectively[1].
- Make new connections
Travelling provides the opportunity to meet people that you wouldn’t otherwise. It gives the youth the opportunity to develop new and lasting friendships and learn more about themselves. This contributes to youth’s overall sense of connection and belonging to their broader community and helps them develop a positive identity.
Many participants of the exchange programs create lifelong friends and often come back to the program, as a staff or hosting families, expanding their friendship beyond the duration of the exchange.
- Learn and practise a new language
What’s better than being immersed in a new linguistic environment to learn a language? The willingness to communicate with others, to discover, and to survive, are motivating elements to speak and improve a second language. Travelling creates a genuine interest and a great learning opportunity while the young brain is still permissive to new language.
Our exchange programs also include community engagement activities such as working or volunteering, which enhance the immersion experience and helps youth improve their second official language.
- Gain appreciation for diversity and culture
A journey to a new community opens your mind to a new culture, a new lifestyle and a new way of thinking you wouldn’t necessarily experience by staying in your local community. New culinary experiences broaden your taste for a lifetime. When your mind is still free of preconceptions, learning about diversity and different cultures builds broad-mindedness and has a positive impact on future behaviors and choices.
- Grow a sense of citizenship and belonging
For Canadians travelling within Canada, travelling creates a greater sense of Canadian identity. By exploring the country’s history, geography and the diversity of Canadian culture, youth get a better understanding of their country of residence and a greater sense of belonging. It enables young people to shift their world views and deepens their understanding of being Canadian.
Our 20 years of experience in youth exchanges reveals that travelling offers the five key benefits mentioned above, and so much more. The first great trip alone or within a group with their peers, helps youth gain independence and autonomy, make new connections and improve their language skills. It also helps them learn about Canadian culture, diversity and boost their sense of citizenship and belonging.
If you want to give your youth the opportunity to travel across Canada, please visit the YMCA youth exchange programs websites:
- Summer Work Student Exchange (SWSE) program at swse.ymcagta.org
- Youth Exchanges Canada (YEC) program at yec.ymcagta.org
[1] Data from the Summer Work Student Exchange 2022 Evaluation Report
