Activities

Lauren Slovikowsky- Tanzania Team 5

This past summer, I traveled on a World Challenge Expedition to Tanzania. I have never been on this type of a trip before, so I was not entirely sure what I was going to experience. I knew that going to Africa would move me outside of my comfort zone; however, I was surprised at just how challenging the experience was for me personally and for our group. We hiked in the African heat in the Udzungwa National Park, slept in tents for 14 of the 18-day trip, walked dirt roads along side baboons, shopped in local markets where Swahili was spoken and reflected on the trip while on the island of Zanzibar.

We had heard from prior World Challenge participants that we would return changed by the experience. My personal challenge revealed itself fairly early in the trip. Team 5 struggled with many things. Several Challengers were negative about insects (Safari ants) and tenting, complained about having to cook for the group, leaving no trace and were focused more on their own needs first than those of the group. Fortunately, this opened my eyes and made me realize who I wanted to be as a person and brought out new characteristics within myself. I realized that I should not be afraid to use my voice and say what I need to say. It helped me to become a better version of myself. Also, being put in situations where I never thought I’d be made me grow. Being responsible for our group as the Leader of the Day, navigating the dirt paths to M’Angula or even having to cook dinner for everyone changed me as a person. I would go back to Africa!

Julia Petrosino- Peru Team 3

Going to Peru was a great experience! The history of the Inca people could be found not only at Machu Picchu, but in obscure locations covered by vines off the beaten path. Throughout the two-week expedition, we learned about the culture, trekked to Machu Picchu, and had to think critically while solving everyday issues. There were many problems we needed to solve throughout the entire trip. While in Peru, there were times we needed to get into a hostel, needed to book transport, arrange accommodations and purchase food for the trip. Challengers would get assigned to a group and have to schedule everything on your own and be sure to stay in budget. This became a problem at times; but, we were able to figure it out based on our critical thinking skills and ability to problem solve in a short amount of time. Our high school experiences helped all of us during our trip to figure things out by communicating with each other and being self-directed.