Adopted Family

    On one of the first days on the ship, you can sign up for a variety of different organizations. I personally did not want to sign up for any because I am only on SAS for a semester, and not even a year. However, there are actually great organizations that you can choose from to participate in on your voyage. One of these organizations is the Extended Family Program.

The Extended Family Program is where you, a few other students, and either one or two staff members or one or two life long learners are formed into a "family." This is a great program that allows you to learn from different perspectives on you voyage. In addition, this allows you to have a mentor of sorts, as well as someone to help you overcome some battles that you may face (roommate problems, class issues, etc...).
One added bonus about this program is that you can arrange for food parties with food that you do not get served on the ship, like ice cream and cookies (of course depending on how your "parents" want to run your family as well)!

I had my first "family" gathering last night, and we had an ice cream party! We were served sundaes, oatmeal raisin cookies, and white macadamia nut cookies. It was such a treat because we are not served these desserts on the ship. During our family meeting, we learned all about our "dad"'s family and his job. It was really cool. This is his third voyage, and all three of his kids have been on SAS before. He has a lot of knowledge about the program, and I am thankful for him being our mentor. We arranged for another meeting between Spain and Morocco, where we will have a pizza party! He also would like to have us over to his stateroom where we could have a cocktail party on his balcony (serving soda pop, of course). My family is very food oriented, but like reality, all families differ. My friend Amy's family is very close, and they talk about their day and rumors that are going around. Her "parents" gave all of the "kids" flash drives. It really all depends of which family that you're placed in. Although you receive benefits from your "parents," the program is really great because you have a mentor and an advocate.