SEVEN FIELDS — A Seneca Valley High School senior achieved one of his goals during his recent scholarship-funded leadership trip to South Africa.

“It's always been a dream of mine to study abroad,” Jacob Geil said after his return earlier this month.

Jacob, 17, son of Elena and Steve Geil of Seven Fields, studied abroad as part of The Experiment Leadership Institute, an intensive pre-college leadership training program, and participated in the Youth Leadership in Peace, Politics and Human Rights program.

“The program centered around the theme of peace and human rights, which is something I want to pursue, so those things combined intrigued me to apply,” he said.

Jacob, who had never been overseas, said he was excited. His parents, however, were a little apprehensive.

“As it got closer to the program, my mom got worried,” he said. “I had good Wi-Fi about every three days or so, so I was able to stay in contact and send pics and everything, but definitely not what I was used to back home.”

Jacob said his parents adjusted to his absence during the six weeks he was gone. He spent a week in Washington, D.C., before traveling to South Africa and spending four weeks in various locales. He returned Aug. 13.

“We spent the time traveling the country, staying in major cities and in mountains and rural villages. (We) studied human rights in the context of apartheid and the world today,” he said.

Jacob said his favorite part of the trip was seeing so much of South Africa.

“I got to stay in so many unique parts,” he said. “It's so rich in culture and history and natural beauty — getting to see the mountains and the city and seeing the contrast there — I had a great time.”

When Jacob returned, his group members spent another week in Vermont to talk about what they had learned and develop ideas for community projects.

“While there, (we were) primarily studying, learning, visiting human rights organizations and having workshops and lectures,” Jacob said. “The idea is that we're supposed to take what we learned and come up with some ideas for projects to implement to address some issues at home.”

Jacob said he would like to do something to improve conditions for Pittsburgh's homeless population.

Jacob said his trip would not have been possible without the help of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, which has sent 138 area high school students abroad through the Global Travel Scholarship Program since its inception in 2004.

“We look for a student who hasn't traveled abroad yet,” said Brittany Cheeks, the council's education program manager. “They have to come with a strong recommendation, and typically, we like to look at a student who has some type of hardship — whether it be financial or family — that makes it difficult to travel.”

Cheeks said the council receives anywhere from 30 to 75 applications for the scholarship each year.

“There's an extensive application for (this program), including a letter of recommendation from one or two teachers, plus an interview process,” Cheeks said. “From (Jacob's) application, you could just tell that he had the traits we look for.”

The scholarships awarded by the council cover the full cost of the programs, airfare, passports and visa fees.

Jacob said he hopes anyone who gets this scholarship tries to “truly immerse” in the culture and “take advantage of the opportunity.”

“Any opinion I had on these other parts of the world was from media. It really opened my eyes to a new perspective and a first-person narrative,” he added.

Jacob doesn't have specific post-graduation plans yet, but he said he “definitely wants to do something international.”

The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh is a member of the World Affairs Council of America (WACA), a network of more than 90 nonprofit, nonpartisan member councils around the country that work to offer students a global learning experience.

For more information about the council, visit www.worldpittsburgh.org.