Pacific Discovery, Discovery Campus Hilo HI, Fall 2020

Pacific Discovery bit off more than they could chew. They were ill-prepared for launching a new program during a world-wide pandemic. The concept of Discovery Campus was born only 2 months prior to start date, and it showed. Important infrastructure, like WiFi for online learning, was insufficient for the first 3 weeks of the program. Staff time and energy was spent attending to this problem, instead of focusing on program orientation and student transition to college life. One of the two group leaders was unavailable to the students upon their arrival as he was still in quarantine.

I was disappointed with the two group leaders for my daughter's Discovery Campus program. They lacked the maturity and responsibility required to run such a program. Communication was poor and inadequate. Questions were either answered insufficiently or not at all. They were ill-equipped to handle the various obstacles that they confronted. It's a big deal to send your child to live away from home for the first time, and I did not feel comfortable with the supervision and leadership provided.