Blog by Tori Somsak

During my Random Walk in Croatia, I saw the impact and influence that my Random Walk leaders had in curating the experience for us as new students and starting our journey at Booth. I knew that I wanted to be able to provide the same experience in the spirit of “paying it forward” to the new 1Y class. My friends from Croatia also felt the same passion and we all knew that we needed to lead a trip together in the future.

When we saw that the applications were live we signed up immediately and started preparing for our interview. Upon completing the interview process, we found out that we got New Zealand, which happened to the most active, adventurous trip available. I was excited that we had the opportunity to embark on this journey, to a country we all had never been to before and to complete activities that we had never imagined possible. The itinerary highlighted activities such as a food and wine tour within the wineries of Queenstown, embarking on a cruise along the Milford Sound, white water rafting, hiking across the Tarawera trail, glowworm cave diving, and touring the Hobbiton movie set.

Seeking New Heights

When we first met up with all of the students at the airport, we were all strangers to one another – knowing only basic introductions. As the trip grew so did the bonds between the leaders and the 1Y students. We had taken two in country flights to go from Auckland to Queenstown and vice versa in order to complete all of the activities on our itinerary. Within the cities themselves, each activity was a far distance from one another and we had spent so many hours together in a coach bus. When the hours were long, we played a game where each student queued up a song on the bus and we all had to guess who chose that song – the level of accuracy of the guesses was so high given that we all got to know each other’s personality so well. We wanted to make sure that everyone was having a good time and felt a sense of belonging and community within the group while getting to know one another on a deeper level.

With our group dinners, we were able to sit with different students each time and learn more about their passions and their goals for the coming school year. By the end of the trip, we all felt like one big family, taking on each adventure together and supporting one another. Even though the trip only lasted 9 days, we had felt like we had known each other for years. Whenever we look back and reflect on the trip, the community building element designed by Random Walk is unmatched. Being a part of the Booth community and having the opportunity to be part of a Random Walk trip or even lead a trip for that matter is truly a privilege I will never forget.

Adventure Mode Activated

If you ask anyone that knows me, they will tell you that I am not the most active by any means. Yes, I take pilates classes and walk around the city – but I have never done any of the activities on the itinerary ever before. This trip for me was an opportunity to get out of my comfort zone to try new activities in a setting that can only be done at Booth. Before the trip started, I was scared of what my endurance level would be in completing the hike, or jumping in the caves, or white water rafting. I was scared that I was going to pass out or one of my friends would have to carry me down the trail. I gave each activity my best shot and put full 110% efforts towards it. I did not want to let anyone down and I wanted to prove to my own self that I was capable. I ended up discovering that I really enjoyed all of the activities that we did.

The level of adrenaline and excitement that we felt when we were all rowing down the treacherous waters while white water rafting was a truly remarkable experience. In the future, whenever there is an opportunity to white water raft, I will be the first to sign up. When we were in the cold, dark caves with nothing but a head lamp on our helmets and had to jump off of the small cliffs, we all felt the biggest rush of the water splashing against our faces while submerged in the light of the glowworms above us.

Being surrounded by the students that were full of adventure themselves helped kickstart this new passion of thrill for me. While we all wear many hats at Booth, I can now add an adventure hat to my collection.