Discovery Project was started with great intentions and grandiose ideas. I was part of a team of five selected to execute these ideas. None of us had ever been on a gap year program let alone operated one; this was a big experiment, and we were the guinea pigs. Were we ready for the unknown? 

A major portion of the year was a month dedicated to experiencing the culture of another country… and on day one, we all asked which country we would be going to. It was yet to be decided, and as the months moved by we got more eager for an answer from our supervisor. Finally, we got an answer but it came with new unknowns; I was tasked with planning this month-long trip from start to end that would depart in two months.

I began feet to the ground. The questions swirled, what were our finical constraints? Ope, those have inflated given the time frame. Do the participants have up-to-date passports and vaccinations? No, okay, we need to order that STAT. What are the intended goals and outcomes of the journey? How comfortable are the participants traveling outside the country? (Oh, a majority have never been abroad before.) These questions and more; I had to come to terms that I would not have all of them answered before I could start planning, or even before our first flight would take off. So I put my head down and went to work. 

I proposed my ideas to the team and we decided we would travel to South Africa and Mauritius for a total of 28 days. Great, one answer. Then came how to get to those places, what we’d do once we got there and where we would stay. I leaned into my connections and previous experiences to work through each aspect, slowly reducing the list of outstanding logistics. I learned what and how to delegate effectively to my co-workers. I learned to prioritize and choose what to put on the back burner until other answers had come to fruition. I learned how to document tasks and track expenses. 

One task was more difficult than trip logistics: presenting the plan to the participants and their parents. I knew that the intention, expectations as well as safety and practical aspects had to be communicated convincingly and assuringly to encourage participants to come on this journey. Designed to help our students grow, I did not want the plans to be jeopardized, nor was there time for a great plan B. I created a communication plan and sent out milestone updates before departure to the parents and participants. We settled participants’ questions and concerns by bringing in people in their age bracket who had traveled to these regions. We physically demonstrated how and what to pack. We created a detailed packet of information including the itinerary, list of useful contacts, and helpful tips to remember. We worked with a design firm to create a journal to capture the experience and improve the curriculum. We finished the detail work a few hours before take-off.

Then we were there in South Africa, it was time to execute. It was time to navigate all the unanswered questions in real-time. It was time to test the logistics we had put in place. Did everything go exactly to plan? No, in fact, less went to plan than what did go to plan. Was that the fault of lack of preparation? Partially. But it’s also the nature of traveling, especially in Africa. In the end, we made it with a slew of things that went really well and a slew of things we would do differently.

That trip put my experience to the test. It tested my understanding, my ability to organize, my logistical framework, my group and interpersonal communication, my problem solving skills, and creativity. The framework I created for the Discovery Project was re-used after I left, until the program dissolved two years later.