The definition of serenity. Photo by Hannah Richter (2015/16 Semester Photo Contest Finalist), Indonesia Semester.

Welcome to the Dragons community and your course’s Yak Board! You can think of your Yak Board as an online group journal and virtual bulletin board. It is blank now, but in the approaching weeks, it will come alive with our own journeys and stories and our own intentional community of travelers and educators.

With your course coming up quickly, we are excited to begin the final stages of course preparation with you. Launching this Yak Board marks the first step towards building your course community, as this interface will help us bridge great geographic distances and connect you with your instructors, your fellow Dragons participants, and the Boulder Admin Team. You can expect your instructors to introduce themselves shortly if they haven’t already.

We invite you to begin your journey with a personal introduction. In your post, please answer these two prompts:

1. Your connection to global experiential education and the theme of climate change education.
2. Read Pico Iyer’s “Why We Travel” and explain one quote that resonates with you on a personal level.​

For inspiration, check out Michael Brown’s post from Nepal 2010.

As I’ve gotten older, my motivation to travel and what I notice have shifted a bit. Instead of seeking out the deepest, wildest jungle with all its complexity and menace… read more.

A few notes about the Yak Board:

• Pre-course, your instructors will use the board to introduce themselves, post information pertinent to your course and respond to any of your pre-course departure questions. We will also be posting the thematic prompts here.
• On course, you can use the Yak Board to share photos with your fans back home, jot down vignettes of your life abroad, or share longer reflections about anything that crosses your path.  In many ways, your Yak Board will become a collaborative journal, curated by members of your group and enjoyed by your friends and family back home.
• Post-course, your Yak Board remains a place to post your reflections once you return home.

A few things to know about posting:

• All Yak Board posts need to be approved by a Dragons staff member before they’re visible on the site, so please be patient after you post – you’ll see your post soon!
• The Yak Board is primarily designed as a medium for participants to share their experience from the field. Therefore, it is not possible to comment on a Yak or directly respond to a post on the board. We encourage your friends and family to email you directly if they want to be in touch.
• You can “Subscribe” to a yak board, which means you’ll receive an email every time a new post is published (recommended)

We look forward to reading more about you in the coming weeks!  Please use the Yak Board as an opportunity to dive in and start building a new community.

All our best,
Dragons Admin Team