“It was a memorable experience,” one of the Water & Wave students concluded yesterday on his last day of the course.

This reflection may be a result of the fact that Water & Wave students spent 20 days on a river, they went to three countries in 70 days, they got scuba certified, or even that they learned how to carve and paint gourds.

OR it might actually be because of the number of “odd connections” among the group of students and instructors.

Take a look at these coincidences:

• The only female student on course, Caroline, attended the same Mount Pleasant, South Carolina high school (Wando High School) as our Surf Instructor, Alex Cook.
• Student Scott Turner went to the same Doylestown, Pennsylvania high school where his own Course Instructor, Sean Marr, went: Central Bucks High School West.
• Student Craig Dietsch’s family lives next door to the New Jersey family summer home of his Course Instructor Sean Marr. Actually, their parents have known each other for years, but only recently made the connection that their sons are on course together.

As we say “adios” to the Water & Wave students today, we have this lesson to share with future students: If you sign up for a course in the depths of the rainforest to escape home and your social circle, you might be surprised to find someone who knows your sister’s friend’s stepdad’s niece.