By Nico and Ricky
Dearest friends and family of Carpe Diem students, Nico and Ricky are here to deliver the final blog of the 2017 South Pacific Hongi Group trip.
While our weathered faces, tan skin, and nauseatingly-smelling clothes reflect the three months that have come and gone, our reminiscent memories of New Zealand, Fiji, and Australia remind us of how relative time is. It is difficult to comprehend how just a few months ago in Christ Church, NZ, we were strangers coming together for the very first time.
As we’ve explored the Daintree rain forest area, participated in rainforest conservation, and practiced yoga at the Prema Shanti yoga retreat, we’ve had time to reflect on our journey in preparation of our departure. While we all miss our loved ones back at home, our time away has given many of us our first opportunity to grasp wildly, and occasionally unsuccessfully, at the first stages of becoming an adult. Yet, over the course of three months, we’ve become family to one another, pushing each other to surpass the things that once made us nervous and uncomfortable.
As with any family, there is some inevitable conflict, and unfortunately these conflicts have resulted in the dismissal of a group member. Despite the circumstances, we as a group continue to move forward. Our experience with Carpe Diem can only be summed up as a culmination of the good and the bad moments, and from each of these moments we have grown.
As we approach our departure date, we begin to reflect on our individual reasons for leaving home to embark on such a journey. Some of us chose this program in search of some unfulfilled answer to our future aspirations. Some of us chose this program in search of isolation and a change of pace from our life back at home. Some of us chose this program in search of an adventure in uncharted territory. Regardless of whether the trip has been clarifying or disorienting to these goals, what is certain is that each of us are returning home with a new piece to the puzzle.
To our families back home: we thank you for the opportunity and support despite our physical distance from each other, and for allowing us to realize a trip that has been such a powerful influence on our adolescence. While we may initially find it difficult to express gratitude and explain the lessons we’ve learned , it is simply because words diminish the importance of an experience so profound to us.
To our OE’s: we thank you and admire you for choosing such a difficult job. Over the course of three months, you have been navigators, physicians, psychologists, friends, and family. You have sacrificed the benefits of the stability of home to help us realize the beginning of our potential. We feel fortunate to have had you both, and we know you will help other students in the future with their own journeys.
Ricky and I would also like to thank all of the members of Hongi 2017. You are all family, and the laughs shared and the tears shed over the past three months have impacted us all to our core. It has been an honor to have shared this experience with you all.
Love,
Nico and Ricky
