TWIGGS COUNTY, Ga. — 14 Central Georgia high schoolers and 2023 graduates are getting out of the country this summer.
Central Georgia Technical College is taking some of their dual enrollment students on a study abroad trip. They are the only university in the state to offer study abroad opportunities through their dual enrollment program.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Zyon Height said.
She is headed across the pond from Twiggs County High School.
"I am the first where I'm from to have this opportunity, so I'm very glad to take it," Height said.
She and her best friend are the first two students from Twiggs County to travel with the dual enrollment program.
"Over the years we're trying to expand our program to more rural areas and this year the superintendent of Twiggs County Schools reached out to our President," JoBen Rivera-Thompson said.
He says through communication with the Institute of Study Abroad Ireland, they were able to get the two girls scholarships to attend the trip.
Students will travel in Ireland for 10 days and have "living" lectures. They will become fully immersed in the culture and get to know the people. They will even have the opportunity to take part in fun excursions.
"I'm most excited to learn the new culture and compare their country to ours," Height said.
Studying is the big focus of the trip. Students will receive a humanities credit, while learning more about Irish history.
"There's also an opportunity for them to learn how the civil rights movement here in the south effected the civil rights movement in Ireland over the 20th and 21st centuries," Rivera-Thompson said.
He says it's the goal of the college that all of their students are allotted life changing opportunities.
"Students come back and then make a positive impact in their community and the workforce, and they just have a global mindset about them to continue on with their own lives," he said.
Height hopes this will open the doors for more students from her county to travel.
Many of the students, including the two from Twiggs, received scholarships to take the trip at completely or nearly no cost.