EVERY YEAR AN average of two or three of our classmates disappear. Sometimes just for a semester, sometimes for a year or more. Where do they go?

They go to wherever their parents’ sabbatical leave takes them. Some universities and companies offer employees long-term leave as a benefit. Many choose to travel and live somewhere else for their research.

Jacob Olshanksy is taken unawares while studying a map of Himeji Castle while on sabbatical in Japan during his freshman year. Photo courtesy of the Olshansky family (click to create a slideshow)


Sophomore Isabel Vazquez on the roof of the Barcelona cathedral. She spent last semester in Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of the Vazquez family (click to create a slideshow)

Why Leave?

Being away from the usual rush and routine can provide some of the most creative, positive, and productive times in a professional’s life. But what’s in it for the rest of the family?

Though parents might love sabbaticals, often their kids are less enthusiastic. Why would you want to abandon your friends, your school, your teachers (yes, even your teachers), and everything else that is comfortably familiar to you?

Leaving your normal life behind means that, inevitably, you will miss out on a lot, whether it’s schoolwork, friendships, or other activities. Besides — what if you don’t make friends in your new environment? And even when you do, it’s soon time to pack up and go back home.

Clearly, the prospect of being forced to create an almost totally new life is frightening. But it can actually be a great experience for students, provided they are not adventure shy.

Uni students have had a wide range of experiences in this area. For example, sophomores Isaure and Loic Hostetter spent their freshman year in San Diego, while their parents were on sabbatical.

The Hostetters chose to go there because they have family in the area and had access to the resources at University of California at San Diego for their research. Even though it’s in the United States, there was plenty of adjusting to do.

“The kids were different,” explained Isaure. “Maybe it’s just because they were Californians, or because the school itself was a lot different, but they put value into much different things than Uni students do.”

Isaure and Loic also had to learn a different slang — for example, “‘that’s so sick’ really meant ‘that’s so cool.’”

There are, of course, varying degrees of adapting. Moving to a developing country or to a non-English speaking country can seem especially daunting. For one thing, apart from the language, the culture is often radically different from that of the U.S.

And that is actually what appeals to many families; learning about a different culture and mastering a new language is a goal in itself.

Junior Joy Shapley and her brother, subfreshman Johnny Shapley, spent a semester in Puerto Rico when Joy was in sixth grade. Instruction at their school, La Escuela Primaria de la Universidad, was entirely in Spanish. Although the education was good, the focus for the family was culture and language.

“We chose Puerto Rico so that we would all improve in our ability to use Spanish,” said Pat Shapley, Joy and Johnny's mother.

However, when children reach high school age, things get more complicated.

Some parents worry that a year away from Uni will set their children back academically. Education doesn’t have to mean sitting at a desk all the time, but missing a year can be problematic. The ideal would be as seamless a readjustment to Uni as possible. But given Uni’s strong academic focus, that's not as easy as it sounds.

“We were concerned that classes would be much less demanding than they are at Uni High and that our students would return to Urbana less well prepared than they should be,” said Maryline Parca, the Hostetters' mother.

Even though it's often possible to match up courses, students on sabbatical sometimes fall behind their peers at Uni. But as Assistant Principal Sue Kovacs said, “Any travel, in my opinion, is worthwhile if you are willing to deal with the make up of required courses.”

Organizing a Sabbatical

One of the many logistical matters that parents going on sabbatical have to deal with is getting a leave of absence from Uni for their children. This will be granted if Uni approves the educational arrangements made for the students while they are away.

Sabbatical leave is limited to a year and is not granted to subfreshmen. A written request must be made to Kovacs. After consulting with the executive teachers, Kovacs draws up a contract. This has to be signed by her, the executive teachers, the student, and the parents. If a student deviates from the contract, he or she will not earn Uni credit and must retake or take the course.

For this reason, finding the best possible school during the sabbatical is extremely important to Uni families. Sometimes, parents make huge sacrifices to do just that.

Senior Jacob Olshansky spent his freshman year in Japan. Despite the fact that his father did sabbatical work at Kyoto University, the family lived more than 40 miles away in Kobe so that Jacob and his brother could be close to an international school. These schools are aimed at expatriates, and although they are expensive, they are of good quality and the instruction is in English.

“It gave us a community of English-speaking people to help us,” said Rob Olshansky, Jacob's father.

Despite the inconveniences that families may have to endure, students agree that the sabbatical experience is worth it. They gain appreciation for the lives other people lead. They also develop insight into their own lives and values.

Sophomore Isabel Vazquez reads the Spanish Rolling Stone before school. She spent last semester in Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of the Vazquez family (click to create a slideshow)


Jacob Olshansky tries some Japanese food with friends while on sabbatical in Kobe as a freshman. Photo courtesy of the Olshansky family (click to create a slideshow)

What’s It Like Being at Another School?

Unsurprisingly, students found both the academics and teaching methods at their sabbatical schools quite different from Uni‘s.

Jacob Olshansky's Canadian Academy had teachers from the United States as well as various Commonwealth countries.

“The American teachers were remarkably similar [to Uni teachers],” Jacob said. “Geometry and biology were run pretty much the same as they are here — we even had the same Bio textbook as [the one] Mr. Stone uses!”

However, Olshansky noticed a difference from Uni in the teaching styles of his teachers from Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

“Greater stress was put on essays and writing than is here,” he said. “[For instance] in my World History class, we learned little history and spent most of the time writing about a few select historical events: ancient surgery, the French Revolution, German nationalism, and the Vietnam War.”

Sophomore Isabel Vazquez spent last semester in Madrid, Spain, where her parents had access to a major research library, museums, and other cities in Spain for their work. Vazquez noticed different teaching styles as well.

“There was a lot of pedantic memorization,” she noted. “I memorized the table of elements completely in order … also the capitals of nearly all the world’s countries. My teachers were very strict and convinced that they were right about everything, which might have been true, but it was a very old-fashioned sort of teacher attitude.”

Isaure Hostetter felt that her teachers were much less motivated than they are at Uni.

“Teachers seem to be here because they actually love to teach,” she said.

Additionally, the students missed various aspects of Uni while away. When Olshansky compared Uni to his school in Japan, he found that Uni is actually quite down to earth.

“The school I went to was too clean and regimented,” he recalled. “We even had PE uniforms — with really short shorts.”

According to Vazquez, something similar was at work in her Spanish school.

“I missed the freedom and independence — both mentally, like in thought, and in actual physical ability to go places,” she said.

On the other hand, although Isaure Hostetter missed the kids at Uni, she certainly did not mind the outdoor campus in Southern California. She and her classmates ate lunch at picnic tables, and the playing fields had a view of the ocean.

Preparation

Many of the sabbatical students had some kind of previous exposure to their new location or culture, which made it a bit easier to adjust. For example, Vazquez already knew Spanish, and Olshansky took a year of Japanese before his family's trip.

Subfreshman Elena Bauer will spend next year in Freiburg, Germany, when her parents will do sabbatical work at the University of Freiburg and the Technical University of Dortmund. Bauer not only speaks German but has gone to school there over the summer.

“I have a lot of friends here that I have to leave, but in Germany I have some friends, too, and another swim team that is really cool, so I am hoping everything will be OK,” she said.

Being prepared for a trip takes some stress away, but it’s inevitable that the dynamics of relationships will be a little different from relationships at home — both with friends and with family.

Vazquez explained that her family spent “much more time together, because we didn’t really have anyone else.”

Unfortunately, some families are separated because spouses can’t necessarily leave their work commitments for a year.

In Olshansky’s case, his mother had to stay behind.

“My brother and I became closer because we were so much more independent of parents,” he said. “My father perfected the hands-off parenting approach and got along with us better for it.”

With the Internet and inexpensive calling plans, it is easy to stay in touch with friends and family back home. This means that students do not have too much catching up to do on their return.

Although the transitions may be hard to deal with at first, Uni students have proven to be quite adaptable.

“My brother and I were free to take the trains wherever we wanted,” Olshansky recalled. “Downtown Kobe offered endless fun with so many back alleys and basements to explore.”

As for the best part of being away from Uni?

“No one knows you, so go crazy,” said Vazquez.

Jacob Olshansky hides among the columns of a traditional Japanese building. Now a senior, he spent his freshman year on sabbatical in Kobe, Japan. Photo courtesy of the Olshansky family (click to create a slideshow)

A student's guide to organizing a sabbatical

• Request
  Prepare a written request to go on sabbatical and submit it to Assistant Principal Sue Kovacs. She will review the request with other teachers and, based on their decisions, draw up a contract.
• Sign
  Get the necessary parties to sign the contract: you, your parents, Kovacs, the executive teachers.
• Adjust
  Be ready to adjust to a new life. This means a different home, school, culture, friends, food, and sometimes even a different language. Also be prepared to readjust and catch up on schoolwork when you get back.
• Enjoy
  Enjoy yourself. Though it may seem horrible to be forced to leave everything behind, sabbaticals can be one of the most formative and invaluable experiences of your life. It would be a shame to waste it.