It Can’t Be The End
By: Roy Nicolet
Tags: Stanford Gsb, Stanford, Israel, Covid 19, Stanford University

March 25th was supposed to be all about smiling faces. Maybe the power of the desert, the wonder of nature had captivated us. Maybe it was tipsiness. But we were truly feeling a sense of oneness, a sense of freedom.

…where am I?

It was not to be. I ended up at my passdown house in Palo Alto, instead of being in that secret location in the Judean Desert, Israel, partying with 250 students from GSB class of 2020. I am contemplating on sending a sarcastic message to the organizers’ WhatsApp group. After a year-long project got cancelled, sarcasm is an Israeli’s best friend.

Desert Party (Photo by Shavit Productions)

Planning the trip was an emotional rollercoaster. We had a core team of six trip organizers and additional six contributors who met periodically over the past year to envision, plan, and argue over the smallest details. The disagreements were, at times, emotional and sometimes overwhelming. After all, Israel is deep in our hearts. It is a special country.

The first debate revolved around the trip time — Thanksgiving, as usual, or Spring break. In March, Israel is blossoming, and our American classmates could spend their Thanksgiving break at home with their families. We knew that moving the trip to March would cause a clash with the spring’s Global Study Trips (GSTs). We were afraid that it would decrease the enthusiasm to participate in the trip. One reason stood out the most:

This was our last chance to have a huge vacation as a class.

Celebrating our class in Israel motivated us to create the best and most inclusive experience in our MBA years. We wanted the journey to be unforgettable. In many ways, the trip was planned as our wedding of 7 days.

Real Hummus (Photo by Shavit Productions)

And then, 300 people signed up! Moving it to the spring break surpassed the demand we ever anticipated. This would be the biggest trip to ever come to Israel out of an international school, by a margin.

When we increased the number of participants on the trip, we became gradually more concerned about potential hazards that could occur: excessive drinking, altercations, and sexual harassments. Essentially, we prepared ourselves for every scenario — other than a global pandemic.

By the end of February, everything seemed to be on track. All the logistical hurdles were settled and we managed to get outstanding public figures to meet with us. Meeting Dr Condoleezza Rice, who talked about Israel, was amazing. Then came news reports about COVID-19 cases in Italy, warning email from the Stanford administration, and then Israel started restricting the entrance to Israel. Pressure started accumulating on us; we did not want to let go of a project we worked on for over a year. We did not want to disappoint the class, however, did not have a proper solution in case a student would get sick in Israel and infect dozens more.

We had no choice but to cancel two weeks before the starting date.

Our trip was not the only one that was cancelled. More than 40 other student trips to Israel were scrapped. A group from Duke University — one among the three groups that executed their trips despite the risk — ended up bringing a Covid-19 infected student to Israel, infecting more than nine other students. One of the trip participants is currently in quarantine for seven weeks, trying to heal from the virus.

GSB Class of 19' at Masada (Photo by Shavit Productions)

I am glad that we cancelled the trip on time but I am still uneasy. It was hard work, like hundreds of hours of meticulous planning. We wanted to show you this multi-faceted country that important to us. We wanted you to be intimate with the stories behind it. We wanted you to taste real hummus badly. And so, it is hard for us to believe that this is the end.

Our spring quarter has moved completely to Zoom.

The graduation ceremony has been cancelled.

Classmates have taken a leave-of-absence.

We no longer have a dis-orientation week.

No in-person ‘Last Lectures’.

Recorded Band FOAM.

RIP GSB Show.

It can’t be the end. We deserve more. We deserve the smiles, the feeling of oneness, and the celebration of our amazing time at the GSB. So:

In 2021, I and the trip organizers will work on executing the Israel trip.

See you next year in Jerusalem!

Kudos to the Israel Trip Leadership Team for dedicating the time and hard work in the past year:

Gal, Eyal, Nate, Amir, Barr, Roy, Oshrat, Carlos, Jordan, Sam, Leeor, Andrew