Reflection on the Global Leadership Summit in Lima, Peru

Sir Richard Burton once said that “The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” There were no words more truer than those as we flew over the Peruvian Andes. Our plane panned itself sideways as it adjusted its course, granting us a breathtaking view of the elements of nature in all its grace. In that moment, whatever preconceived notion I had about Peru was thrown out the window. This beautiful, unknown land was to be my home for the next few days and I was truly glad to be here.

Deprived of and desperate for sleep, we met up with the group from EF Academy Oxford again to look for our local guide, a sweet, little lady named Patty. She led us out of the airport and an instant front of heat embraced us all. Well, it strangled me but the other students and teachers seemed to love it, so we’ll settle with that.

Now, one of the main purposes of travelling, and especially so for attending a Global Student Summit, is to meet and make new friends. This proved to be an intimidating task as the only three males, including myself, from Torbay and Oxford were tiny compared to the tall and muscular vikings of EF Academy New York on the bus. However, it’s awkward and seemingly embarrassing moments like these that push you to broaden your comfort zone and surprise yourself.

Over the course of the days, these mysterious people would be your friends. It’s important for us then to know that whatever situation we find ourselves in, wherever we go, we should leave the unnecessary and irrelevant insecurities and fears at the door, so we can delve into these new experiences without being tied down. The small doubts that nag at you in the remote nook of your minds may be scary, but I believe that missing out on amazing opportunities because you kept looking back is scarier.

On to the agenda of our trip, we look toward the Global Student Summit. Held over a period of three days, the conference taught us lessons that will stay with us forever. Ranging from our culture biases and blind spots taught by Dr. Derrick Gay, we learned more about who we are in a day then what we have gathered our whole lives in passive reflection. This was the first chip in our block of ignorance, grown only from the selfishness of our own individualistic lifestyles and mentalities.

Next to strike a blow was Dr. Wade Davis and his talk on the different ways of living in our world. The words spoken were profound and continue to echo in my thoughts, shaping the way I now live myself. Let me share with you my favorite words from Dr. Davis, he talked of the expeditions of early Polynesians at sea, how they followed the way of “Dead Reckoning, only remember where you are by remembering how you got there.” This served as a metaphoric sequel to Dr. Derrick Gay’s talk of self-rediscovery and a bridging prequel to Dr. Davis’ own talk of using this new understanding to join “the pulse of the world”.

Interspersed between these two keynote talks were sessions of Design Thinking and various workshops. These Design Thinking sessions would bring about team challenges and a competition, the winner of which would have their team project be sent to the Nobel House in Sweden. Upon learning of this prize, my ears perked, my neurons started to fire up, and I was in the mood to win this. My group and I poured our shared intellect, passion, and devotion into our project, bringing to life our plan and physical model of The Chameleon.

Look at those determined smiles, presentations and pitches were over, it was a sure win for us. However, we lost. But I must say, our project was the most interesting and viable idea. Everyone else’s idea seemed like it had already been invented. As you can see, I’m still pretty sore over this loss.

Which brings us to our last keynote talk by Dee Dee Trotter.

My personal favorite from this Summit, Dee Dee talks about her rise and fall as an Olympic twice gold medalist and once bronze medalist. I was in a sad and angry mood but her talk humbled me. She told us of how she had lost every race she ran for three whole years, embarrassing herself on national and international television after winning her first gold medal.

To learn about someone as determined as this to get back up, after every single loss, inspired me to be better. Sure, I’ll still talk about the other teams but I’m not as bitter as I was anymore because of the lessons I learned from her.

This trip to Peru and attending the Global Student Summit was an amazing opportunity rife with life lessons. I hope you out there reading this will also be able to share this same experience and pass on your story one day.

 

Written by Eugene Tan ( Eu Eu)