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What a 121km trek across the Gobi Desert taught us about transformation
The motivation for self-transformation must come from within. Our job as institutes of higher learning is to fuel that motivation, says the writer.
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Members of the NUS team trekking through the Gobi desert in October 2024.
PHOTO: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
Tan Eng Chye
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The formidable Gobi Desert is the perfect classroom in the wild, a fertile ground for self-discovery and transformation.
A 121km trek through its harsh and punishing terrain is nothing short of a Herculean task, not least due to the extreme temperatures that drop to lows of minus 6 deg C at night, then climb to highs of 29 deg C in the day. This autumnal weather – amid which I and a team of Executive MBA (EMBA) students and alumni from the National University of Singapore trekked over four days and three nights – is in fact milder than the other seasons of the mercurial desert, but no less daunting.
