Elephant tracking in Botswana, temple explorations in India, and market tours in Mexico are just some of the activities students might experience during the 2025-26 school year.
Botswana
Summer Term
Spot hippos and solve hypotheses amid unspoiled African scenery
Botswana will invite students to explore one of the world’s great living ecosystems and the ways people and wildlife share its rhythms. During their time here, they will call Maun home, a gateway to the Okavango Delta and a community shaped by conservation and connection to the land. From this base, students will make regular excursions into the delta to study how water, grassland, and sky sustain one of Africa’s most remarkable wilderness areas.
Projects will likely explore ecology, storytelling, and sustainable development. Guided by conservation experts, students will study how to read the landscape, following tracks, identifying species, and recording data that supports ongoing research and protection efforts. Alongside this fieldwork, they will learn the art of storytelling in Botswana, discovering how oral traditions carry knowledge, values, and a deep respect for the land.
Julia Gwiozdzik’20
ON HER BOTSWANA TERM
“Botswana, the first country I visited with the school, introduced me to a new way of living — one I would never have imagined I’d like when I was back in my own cozy room in Poland.
Everything was new during that month, from the language I was speaking to the people I was living with. No matter how cheesy it sounds, we all cherished the little moments: standing in a circle around the fire, admiring the way the sky looks away from the city lights, watching sunsets and not caring about anything other than the mix of colors that was right before our eyes.”
How can students create and deliver a story in the oral tradition which reflects the changing social/cultural, environmental or political dynamics of Botswana?
Ancient ruins by day. Contemporary museums by night.
Mexico offers students a term alive with color, creativity, and connection. During their time here, they will call Oaxaca home, a city where Indigenous and contemporary cultures meet through art, food, and story. Walking its cobblestone streets and lively markets, students will experience how tradition and innovation continue to shape daily life, all at a pace that reflects the tranquilo spirit woven into Mexican culture.
Through projects on identity, design, and heritage, students will learn from local artisans and storytellers how Zapotec and Mesoamerican legacies live on today, with Oaxaca’s vibrant art scene inspiring them to create work of their own. Time spent beyond the city will reveal Mexico’s vast landscapes and regional diversity, inviting reflection on how place and culture are intertwined.
Whatever direction their projects take, the term will reflect Mexico’s spirit of openness and spontaneity, where learning grows from curiosity, connection, and joy.
Planned Projects
How can students use their understanding of architecture through time to design a context-informed structure?
How might students create harmony between human activities and biodiversity in Oaxaca, Mexico?
How can students convey the intersection of local arts and Oaxaca’s economy through documentary filmmaking?
India
Winter Term
Leave your perceptions at the temple door
India will invite students into a landscape alive with movement, color, and complexity. During their time here, they will call Mumbai home, a coastal city where tradition and innovation meet at every turn. From early-morning markets filled with the scent of spices to evenings spent watching the sun set over the Arabian Sea, students will experience how creativity and resilience shape daily life in one of the world’s most dynamic cities.
Teacher-designed modules will likely explore questions of sustainability, design, and community, connecting students to the pressing issues that shape daily life in India’s rapidly changing cities. Students may study how cities grow and adapt, trace how ideas in science and mathematics have evolved across cultures, or work alongside local artists and organizations to support creative and social change. Through these experiences, they will come to see how learning thrives in the spaces where ideas, people, and perspectives meet.
Past Projects
Adapting Indian e-commerce, business, and economic solutions to benefit a charitable or non-profit organization in students’ home countries
Examining India’s contributions to the field of mathematics and comparing/contrasting them with the mathematical developments of Western countries
Studying sustainability issues linked to population distribution and densities in the world by exploring how urban planning is achieved in India
Lily-Wai Edwards’19
ON VISITING THE HOLY CITY OF VARANASI
“To say that I toured the holiest city in the world alongside some of my best friends and visited the tree under which Buddha was enlightened was something I never thought I’d be able to do.”
In Greece, students will step into a place where the pursuit of knowledge began, and where questions first asked thousands of years ago still shape how people live, create, and think today. During their time here, they will call Athens home, a city where ancient philosophy and modern life meet in constant dialogue. Walking among ruins that once shaped democracy and art, and sharing meals that celebrate community and reflection, students will experience how the past continues to guide the present.
Teacher-designed modules will likely explore questions of sustainability, identity, and culture, with students learning how ideas of governance, ethics, and creativity continue to shape life across Greece’s cities, islands, and coasts. So whether hiking in the mountains of Meteora or sailing through the Aegean, they will find that learning expands through movement, reflection, and wonder.
Learn more about the 2015 TGS Odyssey
Past Project Driving Questions
How do we document and preserve the past using mathematics and maps?
How can we apply ancient Greek philosophy concepts to assess and shape our personal ethical framework as we navigate the complexities of birth, growth, and mortality?
How might crisis drive humans towards a more harmonious relationship with nature?
How can I best explore the ever-changing context and relevance of Greek mythology and then express this through poetry/literature?
Ready to embark on the educational journey of a lifetime?
A passion for travel. A strong academic record. And the desire to improve the world as you experience it. If this sounds like you, you just might be our ideal candidate! Start your application with a five-minute inquiry form - you never know where you might end up.
Ready to embark on the educational journey of a lifetime?
A passion for travel. A strong academic record. And the desire to improve the world as you experience it. If this sounds like you, you just might be our ideal candidate! Start your application with a five-minute inquiry form - you never know where you might end up.
