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<p>My daughter did the “Junior National Leadership Conference” in 7th grade in Washington DC. We chose that because we could drive her there so it wasn’t as expensive. I think it was good in letting them get some independence and seeing other people and also learning about the government and what not. </p>
<p>When we investigated this and P2P I determined that really they were legitimate, but really just glorified travel agencies. </p>
<p>My brothers step daughter went on P2P to Australia…this was a girl who came from a lower-middle class area and probably would have never done something like this were it not for P2P. I think it gained her confidence and a broader view of the world.</p>
<p>I am a Mom now, with High School and college age kids. I was in this program in 1976. I loved it! The confidence and understanding of our political system has been invaluable throughout my life. The speakers, tours and inside opportunity of this program was and still is something I have spoken very highly about for my entire adult life.</p>
<p>My son has been on two P2P trips. The first to Australia, he went with his fifth grade teacher and it was a wonderful trip. The second was horrible. The leaders were slack, never even turned in the community service or high school credit forms. Moreover, they left the children unsupervised numerous times. We know this because I got a call from the leader that my son was involved in an incident where he lost his virginity (and it ended up being pretty traumatic for him). They blamed him for the incident despite the fact that he was 13 and under their supervision with the promise that they would never even gp to the bathroom unsupervised. I can tell you that I was horrifed and livid to the point of being sick. Upon further investigation, I found out terrible stories of other children being “lost” and unaccounted for over 24 hours in foreign cities and even a young diabetic boy, Tyler Hill, for whom all precautions were thought by his parents to be taken, having died while his counselors were out drinking. There are several complaints and lawsuits against P2P and I would NEVER let any of my children go on one of these trips.</p>
<p>I know that parents should be skeptic, but some of you are trying to hard to prove P2P as a scam. You guys have discussed the foreign trips and DC conferences, but no one discusses the College “Leadership” Summits they do. Summer after 8th grade I got the mailing, having been recommended by my 7th grade english teacher, who was a very tough grader, so her recommendation definitely gave the air a program of selectivity which in hindsight I greatly exaggerated mentally. I remember the day I got the mailing, it was the same day I was enrolled into the national junior honor society in middle school and we went to a sushi restaurant that night. The program gave me the option of attending pretty much any HYPS school + others (I think some UC’s) for around 2 to 3 G’s. Being the grade grubber that I was, I chose Harvard. This trip was very burdensome upon my family financially and I can’t say that the price justified the trip. Even four years later, we are still feeling the financial effects.</p>
<p>As for the trip itself, getting to see Harvard and Boston was amazing. I had grown up in DC and Boston felt like a second home, waiting to be explored. We did touristy stuff, learned about leadership from some very awesome guest speakers, and had nightly journals to fill out. We never actually explored Harvard, although we stayed at one of the old law school dorms and walked around some of the sciency (if my mind serves me right) buildings… I remember that we were forbidden from touching the statue of “John Harvard” because people love to urinate on it and we even went to an admissions meeting (although I can’t remember what the female officer actually said… haha)… There were a LOT of asians there. Just saying. What sticks out to me was that two students spoke to us, one was a hipster guy whose sandals and demeanor undermined his intelligence, the other was a blonde, curly-haired type-A snob in a sweater vest (The stereotypical Harvardian) who made a rude remark about us as we were leaving… I admit that I was essentially the most awkward kid on the trip, but the people I met and the things I learned have shaped me. That trip transformed me from a wimp into someone with confidence (thanks to the guest speakers, in part), and our activities taught me group work while the general ambiance instilled in me the desire to attend harvard (not for the name or reputation) but for the beauty that is Cambridge and Boston. I still hug my copy of Lombardo’s translation of the Aeneid which I got from a harvard bookstore.</p>
<p>One nostalgic cacophony (I know this isnt the right word) later, I must stress that while the journey can be life-changing, it is about the attitude with which one enters the journey that matters. If you are determined to get the most out of it and if you are lucky enough to get good group leaders and coordinators, it is worth the money. However, for many families, including my own, the financial risk is inadmissible.</p>