"What A View!" By: Sidney Sanders

Today, groggily, wiping the sleep out of our eyes, 104+ American students arrived at the base of Cape Town’s looming protector, Table Mountain. Equipped with sloshing water bottles and paper, we set out to overcome the ominous land form before us. With each step, we soon discovered that this relaxing sunrise hike was not what we expected, at all! Personally, I can affirmatively say I was dripping sweat by 10 minutes into our endeavor. As the sun rose higher and higher, we followed suit, making our way up the rocky slope. As we rose above the clouds, I thought for sure that we had reached Heaven and would perhaps see God himself. In fact, I would argue to say that in fact, we did. When we finally reached the summit, several thousand feet up, I finally collected my thoughts, and my breath for that matter, and embraced the opportunity to examine my surroundings. My breathing was with me only momentarily before it was taken from me again, but this time, in a more pleasurable way. The view from the top was one of the most picturesque sights I have ever seen. I was in awe of the clouds floating around us, the waves crashing ashore far below, the city—represented only by tiny colorful dots, and the large number of Global L.E.A.D.ers huddled together at the top. It was in this moment I realized that the sweat, blood, and tears (that may be a slight exaggeration, but maybe not) were worth every second. I felt a sense of triumph. I felt proud—proud of myself partially, but mostly, proud of the group as a whole. We had done it, all 104+ of us! This was no simple feat, but together, we had encouraged each other all the way up. We each traveled at our own pace, but in the end, we came together again. In this moment, the lesson for the day, “The Power of WOW!”, hit home, and hard. “Wow!” came to mind several times during this trek. Wow…are we really about to hike this mountain? Wow…this is tough! Wow…I don’t know if I can do this! Wow…I did it! Wow…what a view!