BEVERLY — Emmanuel Reid, 17, highly recommends students and teachers look at Iceland for class trips and study abroad opportunities.
The recent graduate of Mount Carmel High School in Woodlawn visited the country last month courtesy of EF Educational Tours. Reid, 17, was one of seven students from across the country selected for the week-long trip.
Reid, a Beverly resident, applied with 250 others for the chance to tour the country with the company that sets up such visits for everyone from Girl Scouts to college students. The free trip came with one catch: The tour group was accompanied by a film crew.
The eight-member crew captured the students visiting Iceland's geothermal energy facilities, hiking mountains, exploring glaciers, standing in awe of waterfalls and more. The final video will be used to promote future tours, Reid said.
"I really enjoyed being on camera. I felt like a superstar," he said Wednesday.
Reid will attend Boston University in the fall and plans to either study psychology or communications with a concentration in marketing. Mount Carmel's senior of the year also dabbles in digital media production.
Reid said he picked up several tips from the film crew, which he said shot hours of footage on the trip that spanned May 2-9. Despite the steady filming, the promotional video is expected to be little more than eight minutes long.
"We were on camera the whole time," said Reid, who also graduated from Sutherland Elementary School in Beverly.
The final video has not been released, but Reid expects some of the focus will be on the environmentally-friendly heating used throughout Iceland. The country relies on heat from its volcanoes to warm most of the buildings in the capital city of Reykjavik and beyond, Reid said.
"Iceland is a leader in the world for harnessing self-sustaining energy," he said, adding that about a third of Iceland's population lives in the capital and the rest live near the coast.
Reid was the only student from Illinois on the trip and said the visit also emphasized outdoor activities — such as hiking — meant to showcase the country's mountainous terrain and natural beauty.
"It was so nice to sit back and relax. It's really quiet and easygoing," Reid said. "I recommend not using your phone. Unplug."
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