Hawaii Mini Semester | Pacific Discovery

My experience was amazing. I really enjoyed not only meeting, but making friends with locals. The service work and learning was really rewarding. I would recommend this program to others because you truly learn how to be a traveler and not just a tourist.

I loved my experience with Pacific Discovery! I learned so much about myself and my values while being pushed out of my comfort zone on program. I gained a curiosity about cultures around the world that I will foster with me in my future travels! If I was to give my pre program self advice, I would say don’t worry! Nothing is as scary as you think it will be.

If I had to sum up my experience into two phrases, it would be going places with a purpose and giving more than you are taking. I have never been so out of my comfort zone while still having an amazing group of supportive women around me that are encouraging and empathetic. From tying the spinal cord of a pig to suiting up in bee suits, I loved letting my adventurous side shine through since I was feeling stuck in boring work/school routine at home. I don’t believe this is simply a once in a lifetime experience because the knowledge I have gained about the culture and language will last a lifetime as I continue to travel around Hawaii. As I go back home, I realize that I’m entering life as a completely new person, and I can only thank PD for giving me this opportunity that I will look back at with gratitude and love.

Through my time in Hawaii I deeply grew my relationship with nature, and through that re-defined my relationship with myself. If you are a young person who wishes to explore and learn I would highly recommend this wonderful experience.

If I told myself 2-3 years ago I’d drop everything and move to Hawaii for 6 weeks I’d think I was lying but i’m so happy to be able to say I did it and with Pacific Discovery. Being able to immerse myself in the culture of Hawaii and learn so much about it made me realize how great of a love I have for the island and the communities. It was so rewarding being able to do so much volunteer work and give back while also getting educated on so many things. That month and a half of my life is something I wish I could relive over and over again, it truly was life changing and an experience I will never forget.

Through this experience, I met some incredible people that will be my lifelong friends, and for that, I am so grateful. I feel I gained a better sense of self and what I want for my future during our travels, and I’m excited to see what skills I take with me and apply to my everyday life!

Choosing to go to Hawaii with Pacific Discovery was one of the best decisions I could have made. After over a year of navigating COVID at college, I knew that I wanted to travel while learning something new and also being COVID cautious. There was never a moment on the trip where I felt unsafe in regards to COVID and I am so appreciative that Pacific Discovery found ways to make sure we could travel safely and connect us with local partners. One of my favorite things about Pacific Discovery is how much they emphasize the importance of education. All of the partners we worked with were amazing and eager to teach us about themselves and what they do in Hawaii. Not only do your instructors encourage you to learn about where you are, but they also encourage you to learn about yourself. While in Hawaii, I was able to think a lot about what I want to do after college. In fact, if you looked in the notes app on my phone right now, there would be a list I wrote while in Hawaii that incorporates what I learned and loved on the program and what I am studying in college. This has been something I have always been curious about one day figuring out, but having these first hand experiences with my peers encouraged me to put my thoughts into action. There is something about having these experiences with such an intimate group that is so impactful. I would highly recommend anyone to participate in a Pacific Discovery trip, you won’t regret it.

I came on this program for my gap semester and it was a great eye opening experience. I got to immerse myself in the culture and do fun activities! I became more in tune with myself and was able to enjoy everything offered.

This program ended up being a good experience over all but not for the reasons I was expecting or was told in advance. I made some great friends, met some really cool people along the way, and had some amazing experiences on the big island. However, the itinerary we were given in advance was inaccurate in regards to a lot of the activities. The packing list left out a lot of things that were very important to bring and had a lot of things on it that none of us used. If you choose this program, expect a lot more service work than advertised. (not necessarily a bad thing as a really enjoyed some of it, but still not really advertised in the overview.) If you choose this program there is a good chance you will make some lifelong friends and have some life changing experiences, but be prepared for some tough situations and drama within the group as well.

I loved my experience on this trip! I learned so much about myself and the world around me and grew so much as a person. In this program i had to push myself beyond what i thought i was capable which was both challenging and extremely rewarding

I learned a lot about Hawaii but more so about myself. I made many friends and had a lot of great experiences. I learned a lot about Hawaiian culture and history. The people I met along the way made the trip amazing.

I had an amazing experience and learned so much about myself, as well as skills and life experience. I also learned so much about Hawaiian culture and gained many new insights and passion about the Hawaiian culture.

I had the most amazing experience taking a gap semester and traveling in Hawaii with pacific discovery. I learned so much about the history and culture of Hawaii while creating life long friendships, seeing amazing sights and hikes as well as surfing, agricultural work, and marine conservation.

Many of the places we went were beautiful, and the cultural education was very informative. There were many very cool experiences as well. Be prepared for a lot of cooking and a lot of weeding on the farms. I expected educational opportunities at the farms, but experienced difficult and repetitive labor instead on farms like Wood Valley. The workers at Wood Valley also didn’t seem to want us there and just wanted our labor. Big Island Farms was the dream farm to learn on, without doing excessive labor, and Jordan was great. Our leaders were very cool, but the administration behind them were often times lacking logic and ability to make decisions. Use logic when packing because the list provided is very inaccurate. It gets cold in Hawaii at night.

I had a life-changing trip with Pacific Discovery. I’ve made so many memories and have learned so much about Hawaiian culture and myself. I've seen so many amazing sites and met so many amazing people. The places we stayed at all were unique and taught me something different. I've enjoyed this program so much I signed up again for pacific discovery in the spring. The program had a lot more weeding and service work than expected. The first couple weeks were camping at farms and weeding. But overall I learned to work hard and push through, just not exactly what I was expecting. Our instructors made meaningful connections with us and always put their full effort into the program. Though the progam didn’t line up exactly with the itinerary, I still had many amazing experiences. For those going on, expect more service work and labor than the program puts out to be. My other problem was the food. I am gluten free and I struggled a lot with the food the provided. Though most dinners had a gluten free option, lunch and breakfast I usually had to use my own money to buy food. Despite a couple of bumps that the program has, and can easily fix, this is a wonderful trip that I definitely recommend.

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I absolutely loved my gap year program in Hawaii. I had not learned about these topics in my California schooling previously, so learning about true Hawaiian traditions culture and history was very new and incredible to me. We had some issues with some of the other students and thankfully they were able to be removed, however I think there needs to be a much better interview process so that people with severe mental health issues & sexual assaulters are not able to get onto a trip like this where healing and growth and safety is supposed to be the number one priority. I loved my instructors & loved the remaining members of my group. I feel like I have made some lifelong friends and I’m so grateful that I’ve had this experience. I know that I am leaving a different person with knowledge I didn’t have before. I now want to know where my food comes from, where my water comes from, I want to grow my own food and support local farmers in my community.

This program has been such an amazing experience! This year with covid has been so difficult but these 6 weeks has been the highlight of my year. We have done so many amazing things such as watching the sunset from atop Maunakea and night snorkeling with manta rays. I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to meet amazing people and have amazing experiences.

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I am four weeks into the Pacific Discovery Hawaii Minimester as a gap year student and I couldn’t be more grateful for this experience. From learning the art of cutting open a coconut, a proper surf board stance, hiking up Coconut Creek, enjoying a private manta ray tour, or looking at the stars at the top of the volcano of Mauna Kea, I can think of dozens of magical moments these past 4 weeks that were elevated by the support and community of my fellow peers and the Pacific Discovery team. All while prioritizing safety, Pacific Discovery has given my group a rare opportunity of true cultural immersion: daily fun experiential education peppered with moments of deeply personal growth.

I’ve really enjoyed my time on this program. I feel like I have learned a lot about myself and others, as well as the culture and history of Hawaii. We have had the opportunity to experience some incredible moments, such as snorkeling, cliff jumping, stargazing at Mauna Kea, surfing, and much more. In addition to the fun and exciting activities we have experienced, we have also had multiple opportunities to engage in various service projects which has been incredibly rewarding. I’m so grateful for having the opportunity to go on this trip, and I feel I have grown so much through the experience!

This experience has really helped push me outside of my comfort zone and has overall been very rewarding. You learn many important life skills, meet many amazing people, and become very close with the other members of your group. There are definitely some challenging experiences that you will surely encounter (like camping in the rain), but I now feel more confident dealing with these obstacles. This program is a lot of fun and is a great option for people looking for an amazing experience during their gap year.