Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

The minute we touched down safely onto our home soil on the runway in San Francisco, an ease came about the group, not just because we were about to go home and see our loved ones, but also the fact that we can walk away with more confidence as leaders because of the amazing experience we all shared together these past 15 days.  Class 42 was able to hold each other up in challenging times, and enable the strengths of one another to allow the group to thrive. In our final synthesis, the observations and comments were felt strongly by all and allowed our thoughts to all come together after several days of intense critical thinking and reflection. Although some of us were physically ill, mentally exhausted or everything in between, we managed to pull out the leadership lessons we had been observing along the way.

Our deepest thanks go out to Dr. Thomas and Karmdeep Baines, who spent endless hours orchestrating and pulling strings to get this trip prepared, and truly put together several once in a lifetime opportunities throughout our trip to India and Nepal.  Your leadership showed and it was an honor to stand beside you and represent the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation under your guidance.  A warm thank you also is deserving of Dr. Robert Flores and Dean Charles Boyer who added great insight and support throughout the entire trip as well.  We also would like to thank Mr. Bob Gray who was able to spend time with us on the front end of the trip.  Your wealth of knowledge has added so much to our leadership journey not only on this trip, but along our Ag Leadership experience these past two years as well. We are grateful for our loving families and employers who had the foresight and patience to see the value not only in this trip, but our Ag Leadership experience so far.  We also would like to thank our California Agricultural Leadership Foundation donors who made this trip possible with the funding and the vision to see this organization thrive.

We all walked away with different lessons but all were valuable in developing ourselves into better leaders. Looking ahead, utilizing the skills and confidence earned from this trip we are able to take it back into the communities we thrive in and make a difference.  

Day 13 - Our Final Day in Nepal

Day 13 - Our Final Day in Nepal

As the final hours in Nepal were upon us, the sun rose once again along with our group as we headed to our bus for a final drive through the bustling city of Kathmandu in order to get to our last destination of the trip before heading to the airport for our return.  We arrived at one of the holiest Buddhist sites within Nepal, the Boudhanath Stupa, one of the largest spherical stupas in Nepal. Located on an ancient merchant trade route, Boudhanath has been an important place of pilgrimage and meditation for Tibetan Buddhists & local Nepalis for centuries.  The Tibetan prayer flags were abundant as were the monks who wore a distinct maroon robe while walking in chant as they spun the prayer wheels that adorned the side of the stupa’s lower level. It was an amazing site and a humbling experience for us all to be able to observe the rituals of the devout Buddhists who came to worship at a site of pilgrimage. 

While at the stupa we were also able to visit some local shops that focused on the teaching of Tibetan painting, where we got to interact with some of the students and watch them work. The paintings were extremely detailed and were designed completely from memory.  It was very impressive to see such disciplined young artists at work, and even inspired some of us to take some of the paintings home to our families to share with them.

For the fellows who needed a little restoration and healing before the long trip home, some merchants worked their magic on them with some Tibetan healing bowls.  The Tibetans believe that by striking the bowl close to the body, the waves of energy from the bowl were released and helped cleanse the body of its impurities through the seven chakras.  After our visit midday, it was back onto the bus to bid farewell to our tour guide Sanjay and a quick jaunt back over the airport where we headed back to New Delhi.  With the Himalayas in view from our airplane window, it was bittersweet leaving such a beautiful place, but we were all glad to be returning home.  With a couple hours to rest and clean up at a nearby hotel, we reassembled and caught our final flight back to San Francisco.