HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Lexi Clark, 12

“Through Semester at Sea (SAS), I get to go to 10 to 12 countries in Asia and Europe. It’s basically college on a cruise ship, kind of like “Suite Life on Deck.” Because of all of my surgeries and learning disabilities, I knew that I wanted to do a gap year so I would have more time to prepare for college and process things. I want to major in anthropology, which is a study of cultures, so this program is really cool because I get to learn about the cultures in the classrooms on the ship and then get to experience them firsthand. Some of the classes actually have field work, so if it’s a class on archaeology, you can go to dig sites with the professor of the class and actually do hands-on work at the dig site, write reports on it and learn how to do that for future research projects. 

I’m most excited to meet different people and experience the foods and cultures. I’m really excited to go to Morocco and Barcelona. I get to meet a bunch of new people from around the world because a bunch of people do Semester at Sea. It will also look really good on transcripts or work resumes because I’m able to say I’ve been to all these different places, and I have more experience in worldwide connections. 

After my SAS, I will be working and visiting family for the other half of the year. Then, in fall 2025, I will officially enroll at Trinity University. You can earn up to 10 to 14 college credits through SAS, so even though I am taking a gap year, I can still graduate around the same time as I would if I did the normal four-year route. I will just probably have to make up a few classes in the summer.”