The World Is Our Campus
By The Navigator Staff
Network connected across planet Earth by Getty Images (jamesteohart) Created in Canva
The world is an immense place: miles of oceans, mountains that touch the clouds, and beauty that expands across the globe. Over the past few hundred years, humans have continued investigating and discovering more of this beautiful world. That is what the Navigator staff was able to do for this article. For many students, receiving a high-quality education is difficult. However, NorthStar remedies this issue by utilizing technology to connect students and teachers via an online landscape. Additionally, NSA provides many opportunities to build and strengthen relationships in an online environment. The Navigator staff had the opportunity to learn more about the students at NorthStar and how NSA’s unique campus experience accommodates them in their home countries.
North America
Many NorthStar students hail from North America, with a large number dwelling in the United States. Hallie, a resident of the United States of America, recalls the benefits of NorthStar Academy. She says, “ As to how it has helped me... It sounds dramatic to say it changed my life for the better, but it did. It has helped me grow in my faith, as I interact with people of differing views and get to ask my parents and learn why I believe the things I have always been taught. It has also helped me find people who are like me. At my church I love my friends, but I've never felt like I fully fit in, and the people here at NSA were so awesome and welcoming, and I felt at home here practically instantly. Not only have I been able to find friends like me, but I've found other believers who have been an enormous encouragement to me when I have gone through the hardest time in my life, and have pushed me towards the Lord. It has also helped me gain confidence. In general, NorthStar has made me a happier and better person.”
Other students, such as Cora and Max, live south of the U.S. in the nations of Mexico and Costa Rica, respectively. There are not many NSA students in their countries, but they both get opportunities to socialize. Cora recalls, “I've gotten to meet up with 2 different [NorthStar students] here (once when someone visited Mazatlán for a day, and once when I visited Guadalajara), and that was really fun!” Meanwhile, for Max, homeschooling is not very common in Costa Rica, so her main connection with fellow classmates is through video call sessions. Asked to talk about their education, Cora and Max emphasized different aspects of their high school journeys. The former discussed the usefulness of NorthStar’s American high school diploma, which, she said, made applying to colleges much easier. But Max focused on the school’s flexibility, pointing out that, “Since I prefer working in the morning and late afternoon, being able to get school work done at any time means I can work at my most productive hours.” She also mentioned how NorthStar’s adjustable schedule allow her to take multiple extracurricular activities at the same time. In their separate countries, Cora and Max both benefit from and appreciate the structure of NorthStar’s education system.
South America
Similar to North America, NSA students in South America experience many conveniences that give them access to the education they desire. “The part of being a student of an online school that has benefitted me the most is the fact that I can manage my own pace.” Pacing is a huge part of why NSA works for online students worldwide. This is especially true for Zoe, a competitive tennis player in Argentina. As such, she has very little free time. Zoe explained that she wakes up early in the morning to get to her tennis training, which lasts about three hours. After training, Zoe’s schedule continues to be very busy all day long. She explained that she could not maintain such a schedule while attending an in-person school, which is why NSA works so well for her.
Zoe discussed the pros of attending NSA from her country, pointing out that she doesn’t have to deal with the annoyance of Argentine education customs. Jacob, an NSA student who lives in Brazil, mentioned that some pros of NSA are that the school gives him easy access to his education, regardless of what country he is in. Further, everything at NSA is in English, which is very helpful for Jacob.
Both Jacob and Zoe mentioned how they love that NSA provides them with a Christian education. They also highlighted their appreciation for the ability to work at their own pace thanks to NSA’s flexibility. Zoe specifically mentioned how much she appreciates NSA’s pacing freedom when she said, “I used to hate sitting in class for hours while the teacher explained a topic for the fifth time that I had understood on the first one, so NSA has really allowed me to go as fast or slow as I want.”
During Jacob’s average day, he spends time working on his classes, some at NSA and some at other online schools, before moving on to extracurricular activities and ministry in the afternoon.
Jacob mentioned how he likes that NSA’s flexible schedules can accommodate him, although he does not live in the United States. Jacob said, “NSA accommodates my needs of living in another country by allowing me to access everything online. Everything I do would look the same no matter what country I am in.”
Africa
Students living in Africa, where things such as stable education or access to resources can be difficult, are able to get a full education thanks to NorthStar.
Elijah, a NorthStar student that lives in Uganda, appreciates NorthStar’s flexibility, stating that “[The] call times and flexibility of schedules are good.” Nellie, a student located in Morocco, greatly appreciates NorthStar’s style of education, saying that “Academically speaking, NSA has been my favorite school in terms of education, since the work is laid out so well and very self explanatory.” Thomas, also known as Cash, shared a similar appreciation to Elijiah regarding NorthStar’s flexible schedule. Lydia praised NorthStar’s functionality and effectiveness, as well as the teacher’s fast and effective communication skills and replies.
Nearly all students shared their frustration with the issue of poor internet, which is a common issue in many parts of Africa, even in urban centers. NorthStar’s flexible schedule is able to accommodate these technology issues very effectively, as evidenced by the student replies.
Even with the Wifi challenges, students in Africa appreciate the quality Christian education they receive while at NSA. Located in Zambia, Africa, Sunda loves the flexibility of NorthStar and the strong Chrisitan education that it gives her. “I am someone who travels a lot throughout the year so it’s really a hit or miss. But I still find Northstar to be easy to work with when traveling as long as I can get some form of Wifi. As I am in grade 12, I do find some of the classes hard which do affect my work when traveling, but it’s nothing I can’t get around.” Sunda appreciates that she can make NorthStar work for her, especially with her busy schedule. “Typically I start school around 9:30 if things are going well, I’m only doing two classes with NSA and one separate class. I work at least an hour in each class, maybe more if I’m finding the assignment difficult. My work day stops at 4:00PM if I’ve gotten a day done in each class, so I try to get as much done between my start time and stop time.” Sunda’s favorite part about NorthStar is the community. She finds it to be very friendly. Sunda is a senior at NorthStar, and she says she is glad to be leaving here with all the good memories that she has. Overall, this student’s experience is a wonderful example of the solid Chrisitan education that can be received in a school that works for your schedule.
Europe
NorthStar provides many benefits to students living in Europe. For Nathan, who used to work from Turkey, NSA has provided a great way for him to be a homeschool student despite the restrictions for homeschooling in Turkey. In addition to this, NSA has created an excellent community that promotes friendships and bonds. For example, Ethan, who used to work from Albania, says that “it is really easy to make friends at NSA.” This is crucial for any school environment. NSA also provides a great school structure for homeschoolers. For example, Ethan says that NSA helps him by “making it very clear what I have to do every day with my work.” This is extremely important because online schooling is a more flexible environment than brick-and-mortar schooling. Another important fact to note about NSA is that it lowers the burdens of NSA parents, who do not need to worry about homeschooling their children by themselves. This can be a great asset since NSA serves many missionary children.
Grace resides in Northeast Italy. Even though Grace attends online school, it is not common in Italy. There is not a large community of online school students that live in Italy. However, there are opportunities to interact and connect with people. They have many local coffee shops and public spaces with free wifi so that students can get out for a change of scenery.
Grace’s favorite part about doing NorthStar in Italy is the flexibility. She said that it allows her to move her schedule around to do fun activities, such as tasting great food, visiting historic sites, and going to dance and church. Her favorite part about living in Italy, outside of school, is the historical sites you get to visit. Doing NorthStar in Italy has allowed her to visit these very historical and marvelous locations. In addition, she said one of the most unique aspects of doing NSA in Italy is getting to experience Italy and America. Grace can go to church and dance in Italy but also get more of an American education. Grace has also learned a lot more than she had since being at NorthStar. As you can see, Italy is a beautiful and great country in which to attend online school!
Asia
A small country on the Arabian peninsula, the UAE (United Arab Emirates) is quite an interesting place. When asked about what the UAE was like, NorthStar student, Eben responded, “It’s very diverse and mixed with lots of different cultures around the world.” He also pointed out that Dubai, a major city in the UAE, is a central hub in the East. He even went so far as to describe it as “the capital city of the world.” Even though the UAE is quite an advanced place, it is also distinctly Arab. It is quite a common occurrence to see camels out and about.
Eben has been at NorthStar for five years now, and he has really enjoyed it. As he put it, “NorthStar is very flexible. Like some days I feel very tired in the morning so I start school a bit later.” Eben also commented on what he liked about being in a global school: “I can learn more about what the world’s like,” he says, “especially the Western cultures. It’s very interesting because NorthStar is used around the world.”
Brooklyn lives in India and has been attending NSA since 2022. This year she is in 10th grade. Brooklyn says she chose to attend NorthStar because of their DC and AP classes as well as the variety and amount of classes to choose from. She also really liked the advanced and updated format of NSA compared to other schools. Since NorthStar is online she is able to do school wherever she wants and work on a schedule that she picks. However, working with the time change is difficult, and some required school materials are not available in India. Brooklyn says that it is interesting to compare her American curriculum with the Cambridge curriculum of her Indian friends.
In South Korea live Rayna and Evan. Rayna has been with NSA for about four months and Evan since last July. Rayna explains how she came to NSA, “I was originally going to attend an in-person international school here, but because we're living temporarily, my parents decided to enroll me here for the time being.” Evan says that he chose NSA because of the community and how it feels like he is actually in physical school. Evan also adds that the Korean school curriculum is not a good fit for him, but NSA is perfect. Both Rayna and Evan say that online school is not very common where they live and the concept of NSA is hard to explain to Koreans with Rayna specifically saying “There aren't many foreigners in Korea and it's still a very monocultural country, so people get surprised when I tell them I attend an online international school. I think the concept of an online school is really foreign here.”
Maddylen (Maddie) is one of many NorthStar students in Asia. Located off of the east coast of the continent, she and her family live in Japan. Japanese culture is very different from many other cultures in the world. As Maddie puts it, “Japan has a very distinct culture of politeness and respect… they (the Japanese people) strongly aim to preserve tradition while also taking other elements of other places and making them their own.” Japan also has a great emphasis on nature. On top of being filled with mountains and surrounded by oceans, cities like Tokyo are littered with tiny parks filled with plants, where you can take a break from the bustle of the city.
Maddie started NorthStar around three years ago. Originally, her family was looking for an international school in the area. However, they were unable to find any schools nearby. It was then that they discovered NorthStar, which turned out to be a great fit for their family. The flexibility and adaptability was a great plus. As Maddie puts it, “...NorthStar’s flexibility reassures me in the sense that I can give myself grace for deadlines whenever necessary.”
One of the great things about NorthStar is that it has a campus that spans worldwide. Maddie says, “It always fascinates me that students have countries they consider home that I’ve never set foot on. I’ve seen people from Greece, Mexico, Korea, and so many other places. I think it’s a very unique situation for this school.”
Oceania
Oceania is a unique part of the world that includes Australia, New Zealand, and the many small island nations in the region. To find out more about NSA's impact on this region, Caitlyn, a high school student here at NSA, shared her thoughts. Caitlyn is originally from New Zealand, although she grew up in Africa, where her family worked in missions. However, a year and a half ago, Caitlyn and her family moved back to New Zealand, where they now live on a small sustenance farm to raise their food.
When her family moved back to New Zealand, Caitlyn began attending NSA because it was an online school that could provide a Christian education while also making the transition to a new school easier after moving back to New Zealand. In her time at NSA, Caitlyn has found the flexibility in her course schedules to be very helpful, as it allows her to arrange her schedule to leave time for helping with work on her family’s farm and for being involved in leading a youth group. Something that Caitlyn sees as a unique benefit of attending NSA from her country is that NSA is not very well-known in New Zealand. This is a benefit because it means that people do not immediately apply any kind of stereotype to Caitlyn when they find out that she attends NSA, whereas she says that such stereotypes abound for schools that are more well-known in New Zealand.
An aspect of online school that many members of NSA’s community must consider is the time zone differences, and this certainly holds true for Caitlyn. New Zealand is in a far different time zone than the United States, so Caitlyn often works on Saturdays but does less work on Mondays to accommodate the time zone difference because many of her teachers are in the US. The time zone difference is also the cause for what Caitlyn considers to be the biggest challenge of attending NSA from New Zealand. Since there is such a large time zone difference between New Zealand and the United States, many due dates and meetings end up being extremely early in the morning for Caitlyn. But, Caitlyn’s experience attending NSA from New Zealand has been positive overall.
NorthStar Academy is an incredibly diverse school with many unique perspectives from every corner of our campus. The staff has been honored to share such valuable stories from NSA students across the world. One of the most wonderful things about NSA is the boundless adaptability and copious freedoms it affords its students. Flexible scheduling, both for school activities and social activities, allows NSA’s community to thrive. NorthStar provides so many opportunities for every student to grow as a lifelong learner, as a leader, and as a loving disciple of Jesus. Our potential is not limited by the oceans, mountains, or canyons. The whole world truly is our campus.
If you would like a visual representation of NSA’s global footprint, see our school’s global map:
https://www.northstar-academy.org/nsa-map/
Columns: 🌎Collaborative Articles 🧑🚀NSA Culture