Surfing to a Career Path
Lizzie Gaebel Studies Abroad in Hawaii During Winter Term
4/5/2022
Hiking, surfing, skydiving, and luaus. Senior goalkeeper of the Delaware field hockey team, Lizzie Gaebel, got the most out of her study abroad trip to Hawaii during the January winter term.
Of course, Gaebel was there to learn, taking international finance and international marketing classes while she was visiting the islands. The 22 students that went on the trip spent time at two different islands, the first three weeks the group was in O’Ahu where they met for class for two hours, five days of the week. They spent the last week on the Big Island. During this time they had planned excursions and free days where they could explore the islands.
During classes UD students had CEOs, people in marketing or finance careers or start-up business owners come to talk to the students. They learned about Hawaiian companies and companies that were influenced by the Asian population, as Hawaii is very influenced by Asia. The students also met with bigger companies such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and learned how the foundation functions in Hawaii. Gaebel and her classmates were able to pick the brains of the panelists and ask a bunch of questions and how they could apply what they learned to their own life.
You put in what you want to get out of the class. If you want to see more of the island, plan it, go for it. If you want to learn more specifics about your future career path, ask because people will share some advice of what they did and what they advise you to do. It was nice to be able to share your interests with other classmates. It was a very open environment.Lizzie Gaebel
The group of 22 students were a very tight-knit group that hit it off immediately. The students would have dinner once a week together and were really able to bond and create relationships. Even when they were on their own for dinner, at least 16 students would go as a big group. Before classes the students would take hikes together on the island with about 10-12 people hiking together in the morning. After class, the group would go to the beach as it was within walking distance of where they were staying.
When they weren’t in class they had excursions, some planned for the trip and some the students planned on their own. They took a tour around both islands of O’Ahu and the Big Island, where they saw outlooks, went to a waterfall and went on hikes. They even had pineapples cut for them and went to the Dole factory on one of their company visits.
Gaebel also had the opportunity to go skydiving in O’Ahu. When asked if she wanted to go, without hesitation she answered yes. Seven students went to the other side of the island to the North Shore and all went in the plane together, where Gaebel was the last person in the plane to jump out.
I saw every single person literally sucked through the plane and I was like oh okay this is happening. I was not nervous at all but seeing people jump and get taken out of the plane, I was like oh this is interesting, but you can’t do anything about it you just have to jump. We were free falling for 60 seconds and then the parachute got pulled and we were up in the air for about eight minutes. It was so beautiful you could see the whole island, it gave me a new perspective on the world.Lizzie Gabel
Gaebel also went to Pipeline beach on the North Shore, the number one surfing beach in the world. She had the amazing opportunity to see professional surfer, Bethany Hamilton, in action at a surf competition. Gaebel and a group of 10-12 of them from her class went surfing together on the Waikiki side where the waves were about four to five feet high.
The class flew to the Big Island for the last week of the trip. The island was more nature oriented, islandy and a lot less populated. Gaebel visited black sand beaches, snorkeled with the sea turtles and went cliff jumping while at the Big Island. The class went to a luau, which Gaebel described as a very family friendly environment with all you can eat food and saw people dancing with fire.
Between the classes and exploring the islands, Gaebel found herself comfortable with her plans for the future. The marketing major had a better understanding of what she plans to do when she graduates from Delaware.
I was inspired to be okay with growth in my career. Where you start is intentional and you can always learn and grow. So wherever you end up, you’re going to be able to get something and be able to learn but that doesn’t have to mean you have to settle there. Be absorbent of it and if there are other opportunities take it further. I think my dream is sales, so I felt like my path was solidified and I had confirmation in what I want to do. Maybe I’ll start here and it might not be in the specific department that I want, but that doesn’t mean I have to hold onto it for 40 years. I could start my own business too if I wanted to and I think I was interested in that direction because I realized how cool startups were and learned a lot about them on the trip. I would say I was inspired by the outlook that I have on my future right now and more excited because I learned so much from other people.Lizzie Gaebel
