Jill Arcaro: Welcome to BEST Programs

Jill ArcaroProgram Your Self-Development

Every human being was born with a purpose and that would be the interests inherent in us that are our passion, motivation and incentive to serve both ourselves and others. I myself have always had talent and attraction to education and culture. BEST Programs reflects my life’s journey in great part.

After graduating with a Masters from the Complutense University in Madrid, I founded BEST in pre-Internet days (1990) to provide extra-curricular English language classes for Spanish children in camps and after school all-English activity classes. The flavor of that goal still lingers but now has shifted toward professional and personal development. In essence, I believe that the development of one’s potential is the secret to a life well-lived.

As 75% of the world`s population know a second language after their mother tongue, making you a polyglot is also one of our main intentions.

Professional Internships – A World of Wealth

The current concept of an international internship stems from the old world practice of apprenticeships in combination with the 19th century practice of taking a tour abroad as a sort of “finishing school” for the well-educated. The bottom line today is that an international internship will give you more options in the job market in the future. Participants benefit from working in their particular field of interest while they get the chance to discover and experience living in another country, with its culture, language and perspective.

With Covid 19 the trend is towards remote and distance internships and classes and BEST offers split programs mixing a partial on-site and online experience.  It is good to keep in mind that these international internships make the world your playground while you prepare to do the things you want to do. My personal definition of abundance, or wealth, is being able to do the things you want to do when you need to do them.

Experiential Learning

If you can resonate with what Mark Twain said, “Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned”, this is one of the prime reasons to opt for an international internship: experiential learning. You learn all the exceptions to the rules and face all the real-world challenges. Also, compared to studying abroad it is cheaper and more practical because this program gives you the chance to know the country’s business practices and network while you improve/learn another language.

Corona Virus Response: Online Learning and Internships

Covid 19 revolutionized online teaching and BEST Programs now combines programs, where total onsite (in-country) classes and internships are not feasible.  Between remote and live internships and classes there is a hybrid (mixed) program.  All teaching methods have their challenges and to begin with I personally, was quite skeptical about anything but live classes, but after experiencing virtual classes myself, my perspective changed 95%.  Looking to the advantages I´m overwhelmed first by the reduced costs where fees are much lower and travel and accommodation costs are saved.  In short, online courses offer flexibility, a comfortable learning environment, pacing options, a geographic flexibility.

How We Do It

The biggest challenge we face is being a fee-based company which is totally independent, unsubsidized and non-sectarian.  However, on the flip side we work with the advantage of being based in Madrid, Spain, and being source providers. This means our internship searches are not subcontracted and we can pass the savings and the quality onto our participants.

Why We are Special and our Intentions

I would like to draw attention to the gigantic steps as we have taken that set us apart from purely academic study programs. First of all there is our Cuba Program nominated for Innovation in Educational Programs by Goabroad, which allows participants from any country to do an internship and study either Cuban dance, Spanish or Music. Furthermore, all the package programs in some way or other empower the participants to find and develop their true potential(s) and life’s purpose. This transformation takes place as a natural evolution, growing to meet a need or fill a gap essentially without effort.

In closing, I would like to dedicate this web page to all that helps people to move towards their optimized state of being for the greater good of themselves and the world.

Jill Arcaro Gordon

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