New York, New York
by Noel Welch & Aaryn Drapiza
The Big Apple. The city of smells and mystery “water.” And, as it turned out, a pretty great place to become a team.
Before the school year had even begun, eight Appalachian Trail Learners set out for New York City with a challenge: plan the whole trip themselves, with guides along for the ride. Ideas were flying: a Broadway show, a boat cruise to the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, chess in the park, Michelin-star dining. But when a group is traveling together for the first time, how do you decide what to do? How do you know if you’ve underplanned, overplanned, or planned just enough? How do you stay within budget? As one learner put it, “This trip gave us the opportunity to plan what we wanted to do, to be in charge of our own trip. But it also showed us how to plan for other people, not just prioritizing yourself, getting other people’s ideas too.”
Behind all the grandiose ideas ran the question, “But do we have enough money?” Rather than waiting to see what would happen, the group took charge and organized two last-minute bake sales to raise money for any activity that might come their way. The bake sales and the planning were where the bonding began - a group working toward a shared goal of an unforgettable trip.
Amidst the chaos of NYC, the group shone brightly. As soon as we stepped off the train, the navigating began. The phone map was out, and we were wandering the big city, looking for our hotel, only mildly sleep-deprived. The roles fell into place naturally - the Navigator, the Scheduler, the Timekeeper, the ones along for the ride. Together, learners figured out subway tickets, adjusted the schedule on the fly, and wondered whether the food might indeed contain rats (spoiler alert: we did not eat rats… that we know of).
Our big city adventures included what one learner called the “GOATED Math Museum,” a backstage tour of the Broadway show Wicked, Times Square, FAO Schwartz, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. On Friday afternoon, we circled up on the grass in Central Park to reflect on leadership. After some quiet journaling, a much-needed peaceful moment away from the constant commotion, one learner shared that leaders know how to lean into different strengths depending on the situation, because no single strength works for everything. In this conversation, learners recognized that a community thrives when it has different types of leadership and personalities, and each person has something to offer.
The trip taught us plenty, including the importance of managing hunger levels, the importance of sleep, and the importance of finding your peace amid the hustle and bustle. But most of all, it brought the Appalachian Trail Learners together as one cohesive group. As one learner said, “We got to know each other before the school year really began, and being in a different place where we aren’t normally made us feel a lot closer.” They pushed through the ups and downs of travel as a team, and little things, like stepping full force into a mystery puddle, didn’t get them down. When someone was tired, hungry, or overstimulated, the group looked out for one another and left no one behind. By the end, everyone was happy-tired. And though we didn’t want to jinx it in the moment, “everything on the trip went right.” New York City? Check. What will these learners do next?
