What I learned in Antarctica
Kahkiyaw niwâhkômâkahitik (“All my relations” in Cree) — Danii Kehler
I’ve known for a while that life really is about the relationships we build. But for some reason, I didn’t expect that philosophy to extend to a place as distant as Antarctica.
Through living abroad by myself since 2015, I’ve come to learn that for me home is not a place, but a feeling. I’m really grateful that Antarctica and the people in 2041 further confirmed this sentiment.
The significance of 2041
The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959, made Antarctica a demilitarized zone to be preserved for scientific research. The Antarctic Treaty is the reason why we have Antarctica as a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science. However, in 2041, the fate of Antarctica could be redecided. If the Antarctic Treaty isn’t renewed, there would be a race between nations to extract resources from the pristine land. I’d like to invite you to join me and the 2041 foundation to continue preserving Antarctica as a pristine land and stay tuned with the status of Antarctica.
Coming back from Antarctica felt like coming back from another planet. It was nice to see the greens again before closing my eyes to soak in the sunshine and the warmth. Not to be cliche, but while we were sailing on the Beagle Channel approaching Ushuaia, I felt the epitome of home sweet home from how much mother earth has offered us in our surroundings.
On our second to last day, Sir Robert Swan made a bizarre statement to us: “You are now all aliens”. When I caught myself smiling just looking at the vibrant shades of greens on the shore, I realized that he was right.
So how was Antarctica?
To me, Antarctica is unique, majestic, and especially humbling. My biggest takeaway from this expedition is that Antarctica is really about the people. I know, this sounds a little ironic considering that Antarctica is technically inhabitable. But the fact that no one claims Antarctica makes this place even more special.
Antarctica is one of the most remote places on earth and everywhere I set my eyes on has hundreds if not thousands of years of history. Even the tips of the iceberg are vast. When I stood out and watched the first sunset in Antarctica, I felt more present than ever with neither internet nor car noises. It was a simple yet intricate first encounter.
Setting aside the great wonders of icebergs, the rich history of Antarctica, and the spectacular wildlife, my favorite part about Antarctica is that this is the place where we truly reunite as one. As Alejandro from the Albatros team said, “it doesn’t matter what nationality, religion, or race you are, out here in Antarctica, you will always get help if you need it.”
If we look at the globe carefully, Antarctica is a vast and unique base that holds the rest of the world, in a sense, as it’s borderless and anchors our axis. Even though so few humans directly interact with Antarctica, it can serve as a foundation, uniting us without prejudice.
The reuniting power of Antarctica allowed me to reimagine my personal Why. I’m a firm believer that “when there is a will, there is a way”, which is a fancy way of saying without a Why there is no How. Last summer, through the Prismatic Social Innovation fellowship, I wrote down that my why is about creating belongingness for others. The Antarctica experience further affirmed my aspirations to build my startup Explorate to create a community for international volunteers and empower young adults and aspiring global citizens to act upon their passion to make a positive social/environmental impact through engaging in mission-driven international volunteering programs. Throughout the process, I strive to be intentionally inclusive rather than unintentionally exclusive.
As an international student studying in the US, I have been very fortunate to have the chance to spend half of my education in China and half in the US. However, throughout this journey, I’ve also been experiencing many cultural clashes and internal conflicts as mainstream media continue to represent the world in a polarizing way. When conflicts between my internal and external worlds arise, I often feel like a tree without roots. Sometimes, I feel like I can belong anywhere, while others, I feel like I don’t belong anywhere. The definition of home starts to become more complicated.
I’m very grateful for all the friends and families I met along the way who took me in even when we were strangers and made me feel at home even during my years abroad. They empowered me to think that I can actually be a bird that traverses the lands and oceans fearlessly rather than simply a tree without roots. I want to be able to pass on the love and kindness that was given to me through creating belongingness for others.
Through hearing the impact of climate change from my diverse cohort of 170+ people from 36+ countries, which represents communities in the global north, global south, the east, the west, minority groups, and underrepresented communities, I really came to realize that climate justice truly means inclusion. Coming into the expedition with my education coming from the context of an elite university in the US, I didn’t really feel directly how climate change has been impacting many communities around the world who are experiencing the harm from a cause that they contributed to the least. Climate change is not just something that we are solving for our future generations. Rather, we are solving it for now.
Acknowledging privilege
It would be misleading to say that everything was smooth and easy for me throughout this trip. I’ve often felt overwhelmed by the number of accomplished people and all the work they have done, as well as the privilege to be able to experience Antarctica. The luxury and services that we experienced along this journey effectively threw privilege concepts in my face and allowed me to face them in an actionable way.
It was emotionally uncomfortable to face the luxuries directly. I felt conflicted about whether I deserved to be there. I feared that my impact would be inadequate. Gradually, I realized that the only way I could reconcile uncomfortable feelings about privilege is to convert those feelings into action-driven responsibility, so I became determined to share the knowledge and continue learning how I can contribute knowing how climate change has been incorporated into my personal mission.
I’ve always felt like my skills have been built around storytelling but I almost didn’t believe how powerful it can actually be until this expedition. Seeing how much a 10-minute documentary “Unheard Voices | Seat At The Table” from Jack Harries affected me and the people in the room made me regain my belief in the power of stories. I always loved knowing people and hearing their stories. I hope to continue practicing my storytelling skills to capture more people’s voices and represent the diverse experiences on the grounds to provide alternative ways to know a country and the people beyond the news.
I made the Antarctica Expedition the “day one” of my storytelling journey. I wanted to share all the inspiring stories from the journey. I conducted 20+ interviews with people from around 17 different countries. I can’t wait to share the stories of “2041 humans” once I’m done organizing. I will continue to collect more stories that I believe deserve to be heard. So stay tuned for part 2 dedicated to the people ❤
The quote you saw at the beginning means “all my relations”, I learned that from my dear friend Danii — the first indigenous woman from North America to visit Antarctica. One night, I asked to interview her as part of the “2041 humans” project. After the interview, we talked for over an hour and I learned about the beauty of Danii’s community and culture and the horror of the history and present circumstances of indigenous treatment in Canada. When she was telling me the stories, I felt a sense of despair and anger but more importantly, I saw courage and resilience through her actions. That night solidified my desire to carry on with the project and to capture the powerful stories and showcase the different realities.
Going back to my initial conflicts on the despair I’ve been feeling in being stuck between the two worlds and not being truly seen and represented by the culture because of all the politics in the news. I want to incorporate storytelling at the root of my purpose and give the storytelling power and microphones to more people instead of simply the power authorities and those who control the media. I want to capture it in a way that shows the uniqueness of individuals and their resilience rather than coming at it from a pity perspective.
Thank you, team!
“A team is not a group of people that work together. A team is a group of people that trust each other” — Simon Sinek
I would like to take a moment to appreciate all the people that trusted me and supported me along my journey.
I’d love to dedicate some special thank you to:
- Jeff Bonaldi (the C.E.O) for all the weekly fundraising calls and for never giving up on me even when I was about to give up myself
- Todd Olson for trusting me and giving me a chance to represent dClimate in Antarctica
- Chicago Voyagers for sponsoring me with all the gears and making my personal journey more sustainable
- Northwestern University for camera equipment support from the Garage and funding from the Office of Undergraduate Research
- Zack Zook for the endless edits for my gofundme page & moral support
- Team Inspire for trusting me with your stories and for being a stellar team
- The 2041 leadership team for spending the past 3 years planning this awesome experience despite all the setbacks
P.S. I’m still raising funds to cover the financials that my trip cost. If you really liked this story and are able to, I would appreciate it if you could show some support my gofundme page.
I’m also always open to chat more if you’d like to hear more. Feel free to reach me on Linkedin :)
Thank you for listening ❤
