My Qualtrics Experience – Michael Shields – Procurement Leader – Provo, UT

What did you choose as your Qualtrics Experience?

When I met my wife, she had just returned from a study abroad from New Zealand. That’s all she ever talked about it. When we were first married, we promised to go to New Zealand for our 10 year anniversary. We just hit our 10 year anniversary so this was a promise fulfilled.

We flew into Queenstown (South Island) to start our adventures. The mountains and lakes were incredible. We rented some bikes and drove through the vineyards of the Central Otago region. We even stopped at the Kawarau Bridge - home of AJ Hackett bungee jump. It was a life bucket list item to jump here and it did not disappoint. We also drove out to the Milford Sound. While there, we booked an overnight cruise - one of the highlights of the trip. We swam in this incredible fjord (brrr!!!!). We saw dolphins, penguins, seals and incredible birds. It rained through the night and we woke up to thousands of waterfalls cascading off the cliff face. It was surreal.

Similarly, North Island did not disappoint. We explored the bustling city of Auckland and sailed the calm waters of Lake Taopo. We booked a boat ride through the glow worm caves of Waitomo. What an incredible site to see millions of “constellations” of glow worms on the cavern ceiling. We hiked through the forests in the Bay of Islands - chasing waterfalls and looking for signs of the shy Kiwi birds.

One of our objectives at Qualtrics is to encourage employees to Learn, Lead, and Live.  What did you learn through this experience?

We brought our two kids - ages 7 and 4. Besides the bungee jump - they did pretty much everything we did. We learned that by exposing them to these types of experiences, they learn a lot, develop a fascination for the world, and are more understanding and enthusiastic about different foods, cultures, and people.

Additionally, we attended a Maori cultural center where we learned more about their culture, their history, their food. We also visited a Kiwi sanctuary to learn more about the plight of this endangered bird. We had discussions about how we can help do our part to preserve the earth and it’s history for the future generations.

This is just one more example of why you might want to check out our open opportunities at Qualtrics and see if you are a fit!

Read more #QualtricsExperience stories on our #QualtricsLife blog