I've often tried to recall the moment or series of moments where I became more aware of my positionality and when I gained a sense of agency with regard to my role in larger social issues. My years at a four week overnight summer camp taught me independence, how to live and work with people who think differently than myself, and to never assume I have the correct or complete answer. All this laid the foundation for my more "profound" realizations (I'm only in my mid-twenties and realize I have a long way to go). Despite my fuzzy recollections of specific moments on my way to being more reflexive, I do know that most of them have come through traveling.

From my first trips with family and then graduating to solo travel, I’ve found the development of self-awareness is key to learning about the people and places around me. I've also found that a heuristic approach allowed me to learn from mistakes and sharpen what I've now come to think of as my intuitive judgment. It is particularly important for me to remember this when I am leading immersion leadership travel programs over the past four summers. Along with a co-leader and host partner, we facilitate a group of fifteen fifteen year olds. For those of you who have traveled with teens, or were once a teen and can to be real with yourself, exploring travel and what leadership looks like with this age group has its ups and downs. Many are adept at navigating airports, most greet new experiences with enthusiasm and, in the programs that I lead, they are motivated to improve their leadership skills. While cultivating and improving these skills are key aspects of the program, there's the overarching goal of cultivating social responsibility. The core of participants' understanding and practicing social responsibility comes through developing a heightened sense of awareness and then transferring the skills gained and experiences back to their everyday life.

Social responsibility is a heady concept with varying definitions. I found that boiling it down to: a heightened awareness of yourself, how your actions impact others (both positively and negatively), and your ability to work with others through active listening, asking questions, and taking measured action is palatable to most teenagers. Practicing this, however, takes time. I have to remember that I wasn't a fully formed human at fifteen and despite the intense five week leadership program, developing the key components of social responsibility, if following the heuristic approach, is a process. Giving kids the space to evolve allows them ownership over their skill sets and, often times, I learn from them in the process. Here are a few shots from the recent program I co-lead to Australia. The first set of photos are from the Sydney area - nearby mountains, famous architectural landmarks and relaxing city dwellers – and the last few are from the Broken Hill area – ghost towns left from the mining boom, an introduction to Australian first nation peoples, and red dirt that gets everywhere

*Blue Mountains, Katoomba, NSW, Australia*