DSO | Non Profit Consulting in International Development
  • Home
  • About
    • Teams
    • Contact Us
  • Projects
  • Open Positions
    • Engagement Lead (All locations)
    • Student Consultant
    • International Development Engagement Lead (LA)
    • DSO Labs Founder
  • Get Involved
    • Students
    • Professionals
    • Clients
    • Partners
  • Blog
  • Donate

Retreat and much more ...

5/13/2014

0 Comments

 
I had the lucky pleasure of living in a cozy, beautiful vacation home in beautiful 
Santa Cruz, thanks to the DSO SF team retreat. And now sitting in 
my dorm room waiting for a new week, I am happy, relaxed and recharged. Happy 
for reconnecting with this amazing group of people, relaxed because that’s why 
beaches exist (!) and recharged after intimate and inspiring conversations. 
Picture
Arriving at Santa Cruz in the afternoon, we began the retreat with icebreakers 
and home made quesadillas, thanks to our very own Crystal, one of the SF ELs. 
Appetites satiated, we broke out into teams to talk about our experiences during 
the year, both in client teams and DSO as a whole. A little later, the whole team 
reconvened to have a joint brainstorm session on how to make DSO even better in 
the coming year(s). We reflected on the many layers of impact that DSO facilitates 
on our clients, students, ELs, the internal team and the international development 
ecosystem at large and how we can amplify that impact in the future. I am super 
stoked about the ideas that come out of that session and look forward to translating 
those ideas into action in the coming year. 

Our productivity definitely called for a reward and what better reward than food. 
We drove down to downtown Capitola for dinner and then to the beach for a 
bonfire, s’mores and more DSO. Our conversation that night reminded me, and I 
am sure everyone, about what motivates each one of us to stay committed to DSO. 
Picture
From wanting to make a difference beyond hosting events on campus to utilizing 
professional skills in emerging markets, our reasons might be different but we 
are all united by the deep desire to learn about and contribute to international 
development.

These desires were reinforced by our Google Hangout with Saurabh and Amy 
the next morning. I was inspired by their vision for DSO, their insights about 
international development and also thankful for reinforcing to us, students, to stay 
true to issues we care about and engage with them deeply during our college years 
and beyond. We put our reenergized selves (both mentally and gastronomically, 
thanks to Crystal again!) to good use by breaking out into teams for work sessions, 
or GSD: Get(ting) Shit Done, as Lauren put it aptly. With work behind us, we headed 
to the beach for one last time. Lying in the shade with the sea a few feet away, we 
ate, talked, slept, read, took photos and reflected. And my reflection is as follows: 

I am thankful for the opportunity to get to know the SF team better in a gorgeous 
sun-kissed setting, have delicious food for every meal and most of all for the time to 
reignite my passion for international development. Too often, passions get dimmed 
in the humdrum of psets, midterms and the quotidian routine. I am glad to have 
been a part of this retreat for it reminded me as to why I’m here and my vision for 
myself and the world. 

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the 
world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” 
– Margaret Mead

Contributed by Sonal Goyal 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Click here to subscribe to our blog

    Archives

    June 2017
    June 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed