Sometimes It Takes Over 8,000 Miles To Learn Some Important Lessons
“Welcome to New York’s JFK International Airport.”
A woman’s pleasant voice boomed over the public announcement system once the aeroplane had parked at the flight’s designated terminal and the cabin doors had been opened.
It’s a 16-hour-long non-stop flight from Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport to New York; it’s one of the longest non-stop flights into New York actually. And before Johannesburg, there is a one-and-a-half-hour-long flight from Harare, bringing the total distance travelled to 13,813 kilometres, or 8,583 miles. And of course, there is a layover between flights; mine was about 12 hours as I had errands I needed to run while in transit in South Africa.
And so almost 30 hours after I had started out, I arrived into a chilly overcast New York Saturday morning, finding my way to the place that I would call home for the next four months. Having been in New York a few times previously, it wasn’t all entirely new.
But it was still daunting.
As more EJ16 Whatsapp group notices came through of people who’d also just arrived in New York, I began to think more about the programme and what these people would be like. I had read their bios, even corresponded a bit with some via social media. But all of a sudden, the experience was becoming very real.
Was I ready?
I hoped so.
Was I in the right headspace?
I wasn’t sure, especially as I didn’t know what to expect.
But the programme was two days away and I would have to make it work.
And now, looking back, I think I did. Amid various changes — some drastic, like leaving my venture, as well as the changing fortunes of my country — I’d say I achieved my purpose in taking this long journey.
As reflection, I am listing some of my key takeaways below;
1. Learning happens both in class, and out of it
Without a doubt, there were some business concepts that took the wind out of my sails a few times during this course. Not having a mind that’s intuitively connected to the language of business, this was a real challenge, and one I had to find ways to work through in my own time… by talking to classmates to get a distilled version of what they understood things to mean. Or by revisiting things at a point where I felt less overwhelmed by the new information. I may never be a bona fide number cruncher (I am getting better though!), but I am grateful for what I know more of, and how I can apply it to different spaces and concepts around my journalism.
Also, I have learnt some very valuable lessons — not entirely linked to coursework — which have been just as essential to my growth as learning the dynamics of business. For instance, I remembered what a great privilege it is to be among people from so many different places. Multicultural spaces give me some of my greatest joy and I never took it for granted to sit in the newsroom and have people from India, Brazil, Germany, the US, Australia, Japan (and the list continues!) all at one table. Talking to Luz about the distinct political and economic similarities between her country, Venezuela, and mine was fascinating and heartbreaking. Discussions with Venkatesh about India were always illuminating and fun. And comparing notes with Victoria about Johannesburg, a place we’ve both lived in in the past, was like going to another place; another home. All these conversations yielded some of my greatest memories.
2. New York will teach you about time management and planning!
Running after the subway. Becoming entangled in a slow and thick knot of pavement walkers while running late. Rerouted subway lines at inopportune times on inopportune days of the week. Inclement snowy weather not suited to the character of one who knows and loves clear skies and kindly warmth. Six-hour time zone lags making juggling work and school an imperfect science. And the unfriendly cost of living.
New York taught me a lot about time management and planning. Coming from a far less dispersed and smaller city (New York’s population is over half of Zimbabwe’s national population!), and a culture which values time a bit differently, I quickly began to realise that I didn’t have as much time here as I was wont to have back home.
At times, this meant running from midway on a street block to beat a traffic light. Or leaving home halfway through washing dishes upon realising that hanging about the kitchen an extra five minutes would completely disrupt my travel schedule. And always being awake at the witching hour, and beyond, just to keep up with my life.
Sigh.
What this reminded me of, however, is the finite resource that time is. And how it must be used as productively and efficiently as possible. I’d definitely say that my time management skills have improved since the beginning of the programme. I still find myself chasing traffic lights and arriving to destinations in a heaving mess… but I don’t think even native New Yorkers have it fully figured out just yet!
3. Distance gives you perspective
Midway through the programme, I decided to leave my venture, Her Zimbabwe, a project that I had birthed almost five years ago from the most raw passion and tenacity I have experienced in my lifetime thus far.
With the privilege of distance from my venture, however, I began to realise that my passion was all but gone. As we went through coursework, and also through talking to classmates, my mentor and the class coaches, I also began to understand the basic startup errors that my naivety had led me into in formalising the project. The comfort was in knowing that these errors were not specific only to my experience, which it can feel like when you don’t have the chance to speak to as many entrepreneurs and startup experts as this programme exposes us to. The discomfort, however, was in having to make a decision about what to do with this newfound knowledge.
Still, confronting all these internal thoughts and questions would not have happened quite the same way without this important space — and distance — to think critically about things and make an informed decision.
4. Life happens, even when you don’t expect it to… and you have to push on
To say that leaving Her Zimbabwe was a difficult decision to make is an understatement. And to say that I was barely managing after making this decision is an even bigger underestimation of things. It wasn’t a decision I had foreseen making during my time here, but it was clear that this was the best decision for me as it would enable me to gain from — and contribute to — the programme more meaningfully, while thinking more concretely about my best fit in the startup world.
But yet after making it, a void opened up within, threatening to take all of me into it. Even though life rarely works to our ideas of what things should look like, this was a prime example of timing gone absolutely wrong.
But somehow, I managed to call on perseverance that I didn’t realise I had. And even though I wasn’t fully myself, I soldiered on doing the best that I could do to be present.
Given the many feelings I went through, I look back now and I can say, Fungai, you did okay.
I showed up. I learnt. I laughed.
I pushed on.
5. It won’t all make sense there and then, but that doesn’t mean it won’t all come together eventually
Many of us made changes to our projects along the way. Some of us got our epiphanies in the last quarter of the course. And some had it figured out pretty early on.
At times, I felt a strong level of anxiety about things and as if I wasn’t pulling my weight.
But now, from this vantage point that only time can offer, I realise that things are coming together with the ideas in my mind for my project. And I am excited about what the future holds to explore further and improve it.
For sure, some things will make better sense in future; with hindsight, perspective and bit more living under my belt.
But I am thankful to have already learnt so much.
It was a long journey to get here in January. And it’s been a longer journey to get to now.
But I can honestly look back and say it has been worth each of those 8,583 miles it took me to leave home and go through this transformative experience.
— —
I am thankful to the Tow-Knight Center for the opportunity to have been here. To Jeremy for encouraging us to expand our thoughts and achieve more than sometimes seemed humanly possible. To Jeff for allowing me to play ‘devil’s advocate’ so many times in his Monday morning classes which were always thought-provoking. To Matt for the certainty of a weekly Sunday evening email or Slack update about the coming week.
And to all my fellows. It has been a pleasure meeting each of you. And I wish you all every success as we venture on, literally and figuratively.
