What the Pandemic has Taught Us About Resilience

Daniela Baltag

(Carpe Mundi Alum, Southeast Asia Spring 2020 Semester)

Ever since the pandemic began, everyone has had to adjust and change their plans not once, but multiple times. Our boats and worlds have been stirred and shaken up in different facets of our lives. However, we as a country, as world citizens, keep moving forward to better days despite the turbulences and bumpy rides. I studied abroad in Thailand with the Educational program, Carpe Mundi. While in-country, we moved from different locations often, and were exposed to many different cultural norms. Things were constantly changing, but in the midst of change, I found peace and stillness. Just as we adjusted from city to city, when we heard the news we had to come back home, we all understood this was something we had to adjust to, even if we wanted to stay. While being back home and spending a whole year mostly indoors doing school online, I have learned that it is okay to cry that things are changing; but, to eventually let things change, let it go and continue moving forward. No matter how the outside world changes, resilience is letting hard times come and still standing on our two feet when it passes.

Patty Dougherty

Thinking Beyond Borders Alum, GGY 2015-2016

What does resilience mean to you?

• Resiliency means facing adversity. When I think of resiliency I see a redwood forest during a storm. The wind is strong; the trees sway and thrash about, but they do not fall. I hope to be as well-rooted as a redwood tree, so that when the storms of adversity occur in my life, I will be well grounded to withstand them.

How has/did your gap year help you build resiliency?

• My gap year with Thinking Beyond Borders gave me valuable experiences where I could develop the skills needed to be resilient: patience, adaptability, humility, communication, and faith.  Whether it was struggling to connect across the language barrier with a host family, dealing with an injury while traveling, or navigating critical conversations within our team, these moments helped me to understand that adversity, however stressful it can be, is temporary and necessary to grow. I’ve also learned that a good sense of humor is vital when adapting to a situation outside your comfort zone.

How has this resiliency helped you navigate the pandemic?

• Resiliency in the pandemic for me came in the form of hope. A belief that however difficult, strange, disheartening and seemingly endless, it would not last forever. Like many others this past year, I have had to face uncertainty and adapt in a variety of ways. I’m learning that part of resiliency for me is an acknowledgment of my emotional state in the midst of challenges. My TBB family coined this, “feel the feels”, and I definitely did a lot of that in quarantine. 

How do you think these skills will help you in the future? (i.e. Imagine yourself at college or in a job in 4 years, how will these skills help you succeed?

• It’s been 5 years since my gap year—hard to believe—and the experience has had a significant impact on my life. I believe resiliency is a characteristic continually being developed and strengthened through the various “storms” experienced in life. My gap year gave me a tremendous amount of experience, knowledge, and confidence to face difficult challenges and situations with adaptability, patience and hope; and for that I am very grateful.

Courtney Gray

ARCC Gap, Hawaii Spring 2021

What does resilience mean to you?

• To me, resilience means not giving up in the face of adversity, and more importantly, growing and becoming a stronger person through conquering challenges.

How has/did your gap year help you build resiliency?

• During my gap semester, I was camping in a tent for two months, and I was very nervous going into my program because I had never camped or lived outside before. I didn’t sleep at all the first four nights of the program and have genuinely never been more tired in my life. I learned how to ask for help, be vulnerable about my struggle to sleep, and create strategies to help myself feel comfortable in my tent. There were other sleepless nights during the semester due to bad weather and elements that we couldn’t control. Going through this challenge taught me to trust that things would get better and to find strength in the people around me.

How has this resiliency helped you navigate the pandemic?

• During my gap semester, I learned to focus on how every difficult situation will make future life challenges easier, and I think that applies really well to the pandemic. I also think resilience involves finding silver linings in challenging times, so focusing on opportunities I’ve had because of the pandemic and ways that I’ve grown is a strategy that has helped me navigate the past year. 

How do you think these skills will help you in the future? (i.e. Imagine yourself at college or in a job in 4 years, how will these skills help you succeed?

• I have already done three years of college and faced the various challenges that come along with beginning your college experience, but my gap semester provided me with an array of new challenges that have made me a more well-rounded, confident person. I think that knowing that I was able to survive wind storms and flash floods while sleeping in a tent will give me a sense of confidence when facing challenges in the future. Finally, one main thing that I learned on my gap program was how to find humor in mistakes or tough situations, and that is a skill that will definitely help me in all my future endeavors.

Hansell Woods

Carpe Diem Education

Once students were safely home last March, the realization hit me that many organizations (ourselves included) may not survive this pandemic.  The thought that I might not have a job was scary, but more than that I was distraught to think that perhaps an entire grade level may not have access to experiential learning—to international understanding on a kinesthetic level. I broke down and cried, sad for the students and parents that will not have this option and scared for the future that will result from a lack of awareness, openness, and courage in an entire age group.  

That moment was pivotal for me, as a deeper realization of the importance of our work gave me the drive to continue forward, to get creative, and try out new ideas with the goal of finding ways to reach students. Each of our staff also had a moment like this, one where they decided to be resilient, not for themselves and their careers, but because of the importance of access to this type of learning. Resilience for Carpe Diem has been a story of self-sacrifice on the individual level, each individual choosing adaptation, and creativity over self-preservation. 

This commitment to the mission has pushed a new evolution in programming, staffing, and policy that will likely better serve the educational needs of the next generation of students.

Brynna Rao 

Brynna now works with Verto Education as of March 2022. She worked with Outward Bound Costa Rica at time of writing the following.

What do you hope that your students have learned while taking their gap years during the COVID-19 pandemic?

In most ways, I hope the students gain as much out of their gap year with Outward Bound Costa Rica than any normal year: gaining confidence in oneself, leadership skills, friendships, time management skills, certifications, and conviction to fully pursue their life passions and to thrive. I hope that our students appreciate all the COVID-19 adjustments and safety measures we have taken, and I hope that they also feel like the program is a responsible escape and a reinvigoration of their life.

What have you seen your students learn in terms of resilience over the course of your COVID programs?

From day one of our first semester program since COVID-19, I immediately noticed that the students were happier to be here even more so than previous years. Being stifled for a year, not being able to get out of their own homes at times, made these students more resilient and appreciative from the start. Yes, I do think that the pandemic caused a rise in mental health challenges among teens, but students are more eager to be friends with everyone in the group and get the most out of an abroad experience. I’ve never had a group gel as fast as I did with our Spring 2021 Coast to Coast Expedition pod. It was incredible to witness firsthand.

In today’s world full of anxiety, depression, and mental health obstacles, confidence is one of the biggest gifts we can help instill in teenagers and adults through our programs.

What have you learned, in the context of your program’s resilience (e.g. adapting to quarantine measures, developing domestic programs, working from home, etc.) during the pandemic?

I am 10x more appreciative of how the Outward Bound network runs as a whole. Outward Bound has over 30 charter schools that run independently across the world with a shared ideology. Each school is reviewed every two years for their safety and program procedures by Outward Bound International (based in the UK). This type of operating system was crucial during COVID-19 because each charter is an expert in the country that they serve. An entire worldwide body was not dictating COVID-19 procedures. Each school was able to make operational calls and develop their own COVID-19 protocols that made sense for their country. Entry requirements, number of COVID-19 cases, and testing logistics are different for every single country worldwide. There is no one size fits all. 

Resilience breeds confidence. In living through a pandemic with a new set of work challenges, I’ve become more confident in an organization’s ability to adapt, shift, and provide what is needed for each individual student. I know our team can make the right decision given whatever challenge we face for the safety, health, growth, and betterment of all of our participants.

Jane Sarouhan 

J2Guides 

We’re struck by how much the resiliency started pre gap year, and how students were not fazed by the possibility of covid protocols and the changes therein. Students are so deeply grateful to be a part of this experience, no complaining about protocols.

Life is a shell of what it’s been, of what we’ve always experienced, students are entering the conversation ready to be flexible. Students used to be ready to push boundaries not there now

Flexibility – in the past students come with their idea, and they hold fast to those plans. Students are coming in ready to be adaptable, more realistic about what they want. I want these things but really want to connect with peers and people like them. Service, immersion, language, yes, but also community. I won’t be able to do whatever I want so open to flexibility.

Did your protocols change due to the pandemic? If so, how? 

• Even more up to speed with what programs’ refund policies, covid protocols, waivers
• Have your Plan A, B and C – have lots of backups if COVID cancels a program
• No one got their Plan A last fall, but there wasn’t a sense of shock
• During debriefs, students still loved their experience
• “What is your why?”, set 2-4 set goals for the semester that could adapt to the various plans

Involvement with social justice, environmental activism, climate change, marine biology, very specific topics (less just “I want to volunteer”) – they have a cause and are passionate (campaign finance reform, BLM, reproductive rights, etc) [1 in 4,5 want an internship so they think]

Jane, On Personal Resiliency and Reflections from the Road

I feel really fortunate. We have built a life around our values and so while the pandemic is a devastating reality for our planet, it hasn’t been difficult for our family to meet those challenges. We knew we were living a value driven lifestyle, but it became more evident when others were lost without eating out or flying. It hasn’t been a cake walk, but our work has led us to know people all over the country and the van life. Some things didn’t change at all (family dinners). This helped me see with great satisfaction that we are living a life that aligns with our values. I have everything I need. 

Elizabeth Bezark

Gap Year Association 

A principle I’ve learned to live by, which has worked for me in most situations in my life, is to show up with what we have from where we are. The pandemic threw everyone on the planet through the ringer. I experienced several personally-devastating results of the pandemic in 2020 and in 2021. Prior to the pandemic, I had a 25-year career plan, mapped out in 5-year increments starting with living and working in South America. Three months into a great role as Service Learning Coordinator with a non-profit in Ollantaytambo, Perú, what I hoped would become years turned out to be only three months due to the onset of the global pandemic. I repatriated in April 2020, assisting the non-profit virtually from my hometown through May 2020. Moving to Peru had been my first step toward a vision for a lifelong career. I was devastated to lose that step. Then, I reflected on how I could show up for myself and others and contribute to the global education work I strived to be a part of. 

I joined the Gap Year Association (GYA) individual member and took on more projects with GYA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access (DEIA) Committee to help organizations improve their staffing and student support through improved DEIA practices. I built skills in assessment development, survey design, and data analysis. Then, Ethan Knight, GYA’s Emeritus Executive Director, invited me to assist with GYA’s adaptation of the Fair Trade Learning principles. Soon after I started managing GYA’s Blog and writing our monthly newsletters. I built skills in standards development, blog management, and email marketing, which I can bring with me for any future opportunities. 

On a personal level, it was deeply challenging to watch the organizations I dreamt of working with struggle. I wholeheartedly believe in the work of global experiential education to cultivate solidarity and empathy across cultures, and to cultivate values of lifelong learning in participants. The organizations with which I would otherwise apply to work laid off staff instead of hiring during the pandemic. Fortunately, I had a safety net with family for the duration of the pandemic, which allowed me to dive headfirst into supporting GYA and our Members full time to make the most of quarantine. I’m deeply grateful for the community I’ve cultivated within GYA and for the opportunities starting to crop up now in 2022. 

However challenging the pandemic was and still is, I learned how to continue to show up for what matters to me. I asked myself how I could show up for my community and use the skills I had to support the professional community I had cultivated, while using the extra time I had to build new skills. 

How I hope to see the gap year movement evolve is for students to reflect on how they can show up for themselves and others at every juncture, and to recognize how they can bring themselves and their values to the table in every moment.