Final – Reflections of Class 41 International Seminar

Class 41 (with the exception of the five fellows that extended their trips in Europe) caught a Saturday morning flight out of Prague, with a connecting flight in Paris that delivered us to L.A.  Although happy to be safely home, we will spend countless moments reflecting back on this amazing trip we shared in Moscow, Kyiv, Krakow, Brno and Prague.  From our first day in Moscow, braving freezing temperatures as we toured Red Square to our final day in Prague, breathlessly keeping up with our enthusiastic tour guide, the collective memories of Class 41’s adventure abroad have already began to be shared with family and friends.  The trip has had a profound impact on our leadership journey.

Our final synthesis during our last evening in Prague provided a time for reflection, celebration, and much due thank you’s.  We greatly appreciate the effort, foresight and guidance of Dr. Michael Thomas in putting together and sharing in our tour of Eastern/Central Europe.   In addition, many thanks to Dr. Lester Young and Dr. Annie King for joining in our experience and providing encouragement and valued input throughout.  As Class 41 reflected back on the comparisons and contrasts of the cultural, political, and economical situations we learned of in the four countries, in addition to the trials and joys of spending 15 days together, we were able to pull out a range of leadership, “followership,” and life lessons.  

Some of the key themes and observations include the importance of tolerance and understanding the significance of perspective; the responsibility of both leaders and followers in cultivating relationships that fully embrace opportunity; the importance of resiliency and optimism in moving beyond fear; and, that life is always about learning.  People are people the world around.  Our individual experiences make us who we are, but our collective humanity unites us.  Recognizing the value, capacity and worth of others through the gathering of information, through stepping out of our own communities, through global awareness will prepare each of us to be ready for the situations when our leadership abilities are called upon. 

Our sincere gratitude is extended to the California Agriculture Leadership Foundation, the Board, and each and every donor that made this trip and our time thus far in CALP possible.  We are grateful to our family, friends, employers, and co-workers for picking up the slack while we were gone.  As we head into our final four months of the program, we will continue to build upon lessons from prior seminars. We found those lessons to be particularly important context for understanding and appreciating everything we experienced in Europe.  As we reflect on this trip, the leadership, followership and life lessons will continue to take root and help us grow as leaders who make a difference.  

Day 13: The Finale in Prague

The final day in Prague started with a visit to the US Embassy. We met with Mike Henney the Agriculture Attaché, his staff, as well as commercial and economic advisors. We were briefed on the current economic and political situations occurring in the Czech Republic and Poland. We were able to explore in more depth land ownership issues, international investment, and the effects of EU policies on Central Europe.

We had a walking tour of the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral on the other side of the river in the Mala Strana area of Prague. The cathedral was a conglomeration of 6 centuries of construction and architecture. Several fellows chose to walk across the St. Charles Bridge to return to Old Town Prague to our hotel. The St. Charles Bridge is the oldest bridge in Prague with pedestrian access only and an open air market on each side. Following that we had free time to experience downtown Prague before our final synthesis.

Final synthesis was a celebration and sharing of our experiences and personal reflections on this leadership journey. Many of us reviewed our previous perceptions of Eastern and Central Europe and realized that quite a few of them changed dramatically.  Several leadership qualities were discussed ranging from ethics, goals and the discernment of perceptions in these countries.  

Submitted by,

Matt Toste, Christine Ivory, Dan Rodrigues

Czeching out the Czech Republic

This morning we started with a tour of old downtown Brno. Brno is the capital of Moravia in the southern part of the Czech Republic and central Europe.

Our sightseeing included a walking tour of churches, government buildings, and plazas.

Church in Brno

It also included a brief visit to a farmers' market. In this market farmers were selling local potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, parsnips, fresh eggs, and mushrooms, among other locally grown produce.

Farmers' market in old downtown Brno

We then departed for Prague (spelled and pronounced Praha). During the three hour bus ride, the landscape changed from rolling hills reminiscent of central Washington to a more wooded hilly terrain.

As we arrived into Prague, we first encountered a typical metropolis with business parks, including companies like Dell, Oracle, HP, IBM, Caterpillar, etc. Suddenly as we got closer to the center (downtown) of the city we were in awe of the vast panorama of the majesty of Prague.

Downtown Prague

In the afternoon, our tour guide Dorina, a native of Prague, led the group on a walking tour of the historic downtown. The sites we visited are the Powder Gate, the Astronomical Clock, Wenceslas Square, and the Old Town Square. We ended the tour in the Jewish Quarter where we visited a historic Synagogue which is still used by the Jewish community today. The president of Lebanon is on a state visit to the Czech Republic and as we were standing before the Astronomical Clock, his impressive motorcade passed in front of us.

 

The beautiful Prague Cathedral

Submitted by:
Cesar Hernandez
Vernon Peterson
Jorge Suarez