OPINION: Why the Spain pilgrimage should be a global trip
By Zoie Calora ‘23
Photo Courtesy of Lauren Mei Calora ‘20
After the three-year hiatus due to Covid-19, three Catlin Gabel (CGS) global trips were announced to run this spring: A Turkey, Galapagos, and Spain trip. This sparked a lot of student excitement to apply to travel worldwide.
Li-Ling Cheng, the Head of Global Education at CGS described the global trip's part in global education
“Global Education is a big umbrella, global trips are one part of that.”
Cheng continued by describing how she uses four domains of global competency to guide her goals for CGS global education. The four domains are investigating the world, recognizing perspectives, communicating ideas, and taking action. The hope is that through global education, students will gain global competency.
Cheng went on to say, “In the past few years, there haven’t been many opportunities for global education because of the coronavirus. This year's global trips are a rebuilding point for global education.”
In October, after all the global trip applications were submitted, students who applied to the Spain pilgrimage were notified that the Spain trip would not run by email. The statement said,
“Unfortunately, due to issues related to funding, personnel, and high demands for the other trips, the program was left with no other option but to cancel the trip.”
Cheng shared more insight on the decision to cancel the trip. There were 80 applicants for the Galapagos trip, around 50 applicants for the Turkey trip, and 13 applicants for the Spain trip. Because there was such high demand for the Galapagos and Turkey trip, the global education program decided to have two Galapagos trips, as well as add an additional chaperone to the Turkey trip so more students could attend.
Over the years, I have heard many stories about how impactful pilgrimage global trips have been for students, so when I heard my last opportunity to go on one was canceled I was upset. I was upset selfishly because I wanted to go on the global trip and wondered in the future if other students would ever get to experience a pilgrimage trip again.
The new spots for other global trips came at the expense of canceling the Spain trip. Global trips have gotten more expensive over the years due to inflation and the new use of tour groups, specifically Explorica, in this year's running trips. For example, in 2019, CGS ran a global trip to Taiwan, which would now be $1000 more expensive to run.
The Spain trip also offers a very unique experience: a pilgrimage. Specifically walking the Camino de Santiago or The way of St. James in English. The Camino de Santiago is a network of routes that leads to the Shrine of the apostle St. James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain.
Photos courtesy of Lauren Mei Calora ‘20
CGS alumns Catie Kean 20’ and Evan Williams 22’ shared about their journey on the Camino de Santiago during the 2019 Spain Pilgrimage.
“Pilgrimage has such a rich history with a whole community. I got a love for hiking and the outdoors and learned so much about living intentionally,” Kean said.
“This global trip is so different because you aren’t really a tourist. You learn a different way of life, you walk, you eat, you eat some more, and then you walk and you're done for the day.” Williams said.
Based on conversations with Kean and Williams, it is clear that the Spain pilgrimage exemplifies the global competency Cheng strives to get through global education. Spending five weeks on a physically and mentally challenging trip with a tight-knit group traveling across a different country, where you are completely disconnected from your mainstream life is bound to have an effect on your outlook on life.
Global trips not only benefit the individual but also the larger CGS community. The ultimate goal of global trips is that the students will come back to school with more global competency so that they can share their experiences with others and impact others causing a chain effect. Having a diverse pool of global trips that explore many different cultures broadens the communities scope of knowledge.
Kean and Williams both unequivocally recommended that everyone should go on a pilgrimage because it is an experience unlike any other that you will never forget, so I hope that CGS strongly considers running pilgrimages as a global trip in the future.