Ballou students do more than sightseeing on trips abroad

What a tremendous good news story: Students at D.C.'s Ballou High School Embark on Epic Overseas Adventure

WAMU's Kavitha Cardoza digs deep in the personal stories of the Ballou students who've been abroad even though some of them have not been across the District, even to the National Mall. An excerpt:

Odem says they did a lot of sightseeing. "In London, we went to Buckingham Palace, we went to the original Hard Rock Café. In Paris, we saw the Eiffel Tower, I really enjoyed the Palace of Versailles," she says.

But not every experience was fun. Odem once got on a train not realizing her group wasn't coming with her. "I was scared for my life. There are a lot of stores about people getting snatched in Paris and sold I thought I was lost forever!"

Luckily someone on the train spoke English and helped her out. Odem says she would never have asked for help in D.C. "I would never have asked for help on the Metro here even if I didn't know where I was going. [S]omething about American people that we always keep our guard up. 'Cause I don’t want to be cursed out or have someone angry at me for having asked a question," she says.

Odem says she would not usually help anyone else, but that was before the trip. "And if someone was to ask me today on the Metro I would help them happily. I think I would even walk them to where they needed to go! 'Cause that was one of the worst experiences of my life. Being lost," she says.