The Bermudian students knew they would run into different people through the Up With People group.

But they didn’t realise that they could come to such an understanding with others despite not fully understanding or agreeing with them.

Seven students, all between 18 and 23, returned from their 4½-month tour with the organisation last Tuesday.

The crew spent a month training at the organisation’s headquarters in Denver, Colorado, with 100 other young people from 19 countries around the world. Regional learning became essential for the students, and they only picked up more as they travelled with each other.

“We found an opportunity in Farmington, New Mexico: there’s a very large population of Navajo people, so we had the Navajo people come to the place that we were at,” said Johnae Tucker, a 23-year-old promotional representative for Bermuda. “We did various workshops and they taught them a little about the Navajo language and did games with them.”

The students travelled through the United States and continued through Europe, practising for the same show they would perform every week.

“We might have different people performing the songs, but also there are some cities where the song is more meaningful to them,” Mikaela Kawaley-Lathan, 18, told The Royal Gazette. “When we switched countries, we would add a song to that country, so we would learn a song in German or learn a song in French.”

When they weren’t performing at sold-out shows, they performed community services like classroom workshops, working with youth shelters, and volunteering at food banks, just to name a few. In total, the 100 students performed 13,080 hours of service between January and the end of June.

Hostel living was essential to learning and the Up With People experience. Students were given a “new family” each week, living with locals who volunteered their homes and occasionally other Up With People students.

Since English wasn’t always the host family’s first language, the students found new methods of communication while also getting to know their castmates better.

“Not only was it really fantastic to engage with your host family and share you culture with them and experience their culture for yourself, but also engage with the culture of the person who’s also sharing a room — and, sometimes, a bed — with you,” said Will Campbell, 18.

Caleb Lowe, 19, added: “As much as there were differences in each culture, seeing as many cultures as we have you get to see the similarities as well.”

Food, however, became a particularly interesting experience for the students, particularly how exposure to some foods bettered or worsened their relationship with it.

“I’ve never had Nutella, I thought it was another peanut butter,” said Rachel Butterfield, 18. “But then I got through it and I was like ‘yes!’. Last week Thursday I went to the grocery store — I have Nutella in my house, bless my heart!”

The experiences were strong to all members, which only made their final performance harder to do.

Their final show, and one of their biggest, was described by the students as “emotional”.

“I didn’t cry until the finale,” Mr Lowe said with a laugh. “I was fine throughout the whole show, and then [the final song] Journey On, when the cast and the staff came through — that’s when I started bawling my eyes out.”

The song, according to Ms Kawaley-Lathan, spoke about moving on in life despite encountering loss or hardship. The song was especially hard for those members who were leaving the programme, having to “journey on” despite leaving friends behind.

As tough as the experience might have been, some cast members took the message to heart.

“A lot of people were crying knowing that we were about to part, going our separate ways and stuff, but I thought that week had a lot of happy emotions,” Mr Campbell said. “A lot of people were so upset that the programme was ending but what a great four months we had.”

Despite the students travelling to university or working, each member expressed interest in volunteering with Up With People in the future, whether on the ground as a recruiter or as an intern.

Each cast member recommended working with the organisation at least once, and stressed that it’s a wonderful experience for something that lasts “less than a semester”.

“If you don’t know what you want to do, travel with up With People,” Mr Campbell urged.

Performance history is not necessary for the programme, and scholarships are offered by the organisation.

• Visit www.upwithpeople.org for more information