To many, studying in the Bahamas sounds like a vacation: white sand beaches, crystal clear waters, and UV 12. For Junior Lila Klinzmann, a semester abroad at The Island School in Eleuthera, The Bahamas wasn’t one of laying out and tanning. Instead, it was a transformative, 100-day experience where Lila traded in her phone and Wi-Fi for 50-mile kayak adventures, a curriculum centered on sustainability and conservation, and lifelong friendships in an outdoor classroom.
Lila first caught wind of The Island School after hearing a friend was participating in the program. “I started reading about the program a bit and found out it was 100 days with no phone, fully cut off from any internet, any Wi-Fi, and within that time you participate in a lot of camping trips and scuba diving,” Lila explained. “I wanted to go for the experience of getting to learn in an outdoor classroom.” Sometimes moving away from the traditional confines of a classroom is all one needs to expand one’s mind and one’s heart to fully develop into one’s best self. This also means changing one’s daily routine and schedule to accommodate for that desired growth.
One of the shifts Lila made on the island was getting comfortable with long days that stimulated her academically, physically, and mentally. Lila’s schedule consisted of 6:15 a.m. wakeups followed by training for a half-marathon in the mornings and then a full day of classes ranging from two to four-hour blocks throughout the day. Her nights consisted of some free time, which she often spent exploring the island, debriefing her day during dinner, and study hours prior to going to bed.
In the classroom, Lila embraced hands-on learning with a heavy focus on sustainability, conservation, and ecology. “For my science class, I had Marine Ecology, which would go for either two or four hours each day. It was an experience rather than a lesson plan. We would go grab live jellyfish from the ocean and discuss ecosystems based on our surrounding environment,” said Lila. In addition to her classes, Lila was also part of a research group that served as a mock-internship. “I had the opportunity to work with a world-renowned researcher, and we worked specifically with baby conches,” Lila shared. “It was my responsibility to learn about conch and raise my own baby conch and having that hands-on experience was very valuable.”
Lila was also taught math in relation to life at The Island School through her “Sustainable Systems” class. “We ran out of water a lot, and in my Sustainable Systems class, we would often have to measure the amount of water in our water cisterns. If it didn’t rain, we couldn’t shower for days, so everything came from our cisterns,” she explained. “It really taught me how to manage how we were going to live on campus, which was eye-opening, and our final project was about how to sustain more water as water scarcity remains a big issue in society today.”
Living away from home for four months is no easy feat, and like it would anyone, it posed some challenges for Lila. “Mentally being put in such a harsh environment so quickly and having to adjust fast was a challenge,” Lila said. “Day one, we didn’t even have time to unpack. They threw us into groups, and we went on a multi-day kayaking expedition. It forced me to put myself out there and embrace uncomfortability,” she said. On the academic side, Lila welcomed long hours of studying and adapted to experiential learning, separate from textbooks and arithmetic.
Aside from time in the sun and learning to live sustainably, Lila’s time at The Island School also provided her with something that can’t be learned: genuine, long-lasting friendships. “I keep in contact with almost every kid now, and we’ve already had three reunions in different places around the country,” Lila said. “The teachers were also some of the best I’ve ever had, and I think this had to do with the fact that they were like my parents and they were who I leaned on.” The communal aspect is one Lila will forever cherish and hold near to her heart.
Lastly, Lila shared a piece of advice that shaped her time at The Island School and beyond as she looks ahead to college and her future goals. “Be where your feet are,” she said. “It is by far something that everyone should learn to embrace. Staying present and in the moment is one of the most valuable things I learned, and it will stay with me for years to come.”
For Lila, Eleuthera became more than a vacation destination. It became a classroom without walls, a taste of independence, and a true marker for personal growth and responsibility. Sometimes the most transformative voyages are the ones where you leave behind your past self and become who you are meant to be.
