Global Explorers Blog 
Root for Team No Limits!
This Thursday (8/25) at 9/8C, Team No Limits is competing in the finale of ABC's new reality show Expedition Impossible-- don't miss it! Two of the three team-members, Erik Weihenmayer and Jeff Evans, have traveled on many Global Explorers expeditions and are close friends of the GEx family. Erik was the leading force behind the creation of the Global Explorers Leading the Way program back in 2006 and has since shared his pioneering spirit with hundreds of teenagers on expeditions around the world.
Share on Facebook Post to Twitter Posted by David Shurna · August 25, 2011
How Did I Get to Where I Am?
I was recently asked by a student for some career advice. Like many talented young adults, this person was at a crossroads wondering what to do upon completion of her undergraduate degree. Faced with a myriad of options ranging from graduate school to Americorps to getting a good old-fashioned job, she asked, "How did you get to where you are?"
How did I arrive at Global Explorers? It's hard to say. As I look back at the past twenty years, it seems at times strategic and at others random career and personal decisions led to my current life's passion at Global Explorers.
My abbreviated history would read something like this: After receiving my B.S. in Biology from Xavier University, I spent three years working as a staff member or intern at informal environmental/wildlife education centers in different parts of the U.S. During that time, I was fortunate enough to start traveling a bit throughout the world, including a transformative three month trip through Central America. During these years, though I knew that I loved teaching kids, I found myself drawn to strategic discussions about education, leadership and global conservation. I went to graduate school at Duke University hoping to deepen my understanding of these areas. Grad school provided me a great growth opportunity, though not necessarily in the areas that I expected. Most of all, it connected me with a network of amazing individuals that I continue to cultivate to this day. I traveled more as a result of grad school and the connections I made... to South America, Africa and Asia. Through a seemingly random set of circumstances that I attribute to my dog Flash, I headed out to Colorado to lead up a new environmental center called The Catamount Institute. At Catamount, I learned a great deal about building a nonprofit organization from the ground up. Four years later, due to a combination of luck and acquired skills, Julie Dubin, a grad school friend, and I launched Global Explorers.
Share on Facebook Post to Twitter Posted by David Shurna · August 17, 2011
Learning AFAR and We Give Books Make a Difference Around the World
The Learning AFAR program promotes cross-cultural exchange by sponsoring international travel for students who cannot otherwise afford to experience another part of the world. It is the flagship program of the AFAR Foundation, and is annually created in partnership with Global Explorers. In 2011, Learning AFAR supported 78 students and educators in traveling to Costa Rica, Peru and Cambodia. In addition to travel, the teams gain exposure to the world of travel writing and photography through training from AFAR Media’s professionals and acquire new skills and awareness through Global Explorers’ leadership curriculum. During the service component of these programs, the teams participated in the Pearson Foundation’s We Give Books campaign. For every book participants read to younger students, the Pearson Foundation donated a book to the Peruvian, Costa Rican or Cambodian communities that the students visited.
Share on Facebook Post to Twitter Posted by David Shurna · August 11, 2011
Inspired and Committed after Leading the Way: Machu PIcchu 2011
It has been nine days since I landed in Washington, DC on my way home from Peru. As those nine days passed, I reverted back into my normal routine: lazily waking at 7 a.m. for work at my parents' animal hospital, stressing about my first year of college and So You Think You Can Dance on Wednesday nights. At work this past week, I was mopping in the back with the pets boarding in kennels or cages, and a coworker walked by with a cat that had just been dropped off for the weekend. As she passed me standing, mop in hand, the cat jingled, its collar adorned with multiple small silver bells.
I instantly thought back to Peru, day one of the Lares Trek. All of us had been excited at this point. We were finally beginning our "Peruvian adventure." It was warm and sunny, the weather mimicking our mood, and I was leading one of the blind students, Ashley, with a friend from school. Ashley was equipped with trekking poles, and I held a single silver bell to help lead her in the right general direction. Though I was ready to begin the hike, I was growing exceedingly nervous. I had led Ashley before, around our hotel room or restaurants, but never on a terrain like the trail of the Lares Trek. "Ankle-rollers" and "shin-busters" were everywhere, scattered about like a minefield.
