“To produce men of wisdom and stature who can stand, in favour with God and man” -school mission
Our recent Secondary 3 Adventure Camp was a true stepping stone to greater things we could achieve in the future. I personally gain a substantial amount of experience through this exhilarating journey of epic proportions.
When I left school for the Camp, my heart was pounding, more anxious than excited. I was never the “outdoor” type of person but nonetheless not introverted. Who knew I was about to do things I’d never would have done in a million years.
Arrival was a warm welcoming greeting from the facilitators of the camp. A woman, by the name of Dawn, was our programme coordinator and she introduced us to the other facilitators. Frankly speaking I did not at first cared who our instructors were and I just wanted to get this camp over with but soon enough my viewpoint was completely altered.
After the introduction we went to pitch our tents. I myself was surprised that my group, Chil, could work together and pitch the tent well. We had lunch after the session of tent pitching. Many underestimated the quality of the food and were quite delighted that it was not too bad. When we were done, our first activity began.
We started with rafting and our job was to build a raft. I was intrigued by the uniqueness of our raft but skeptical that it could float. The work done by my teammates indeed proved me wrong and we spend a great time rafting. The activity that succeeded rafting was our nature discovery hunt. We were tasked to find some natural elements of the camp such as trees or animals, and then map out where we could find these flora and fauna. It was an enjoyable experience that I wouldn’t mind trying again if given the opportunity,
Next we had the Trekker’s challenge. This activity required strength, both mental and physical. We started with the yurt circle. About 19 boys had to surround a nylon rope and pull it backward while 1 had to walk around that rope. It involved a lot of resilience and struggle but I managed to do it. It was hard for me but I conquered it and I was pretty proud of myself. My classmates really displayed focus and teamwork and I did feel a sense of belonging in a sense that they would help me.
It was dinner time and I was assigned to be my class’s representative. It was quite a heavy responsibility to carry but definitely not a burden. Our facilitators, whose codenames were Tarzan and Jane, were indeed really nice people and great guides. Besides me, a few other classmates distributed the food to the rest of the boys. After dinner we decided to practice our cheer. ”My side, my side, my side, my front, my back. My side my front my side my back my side my front my back”
At 8 p.m. we had our night activities. It was a blind man’s walk. We had to cover our eyes with a handkerchief and be virtually blind for about 45 minutes. It was a painful experience but it taught us how to use our other senses. After awhile we were positioned in different areas to locate our teammates with the help of our animal call.
The night activity was rather shallow but it taught a lot of life skills. We had a reflection afterward and then it was off to bed. 6.30 was the time we had to wake up and it was hazy as usual. We had breakfast at 7 and the nice cup of hot milo indeed refreshed us all.
Our first activity was outdoor cooking. It was really fun to use twigs as sticks for eating the sausages and jungle donuts. Our second activity of the day was average. It was the low elements. I got rope burn and it hurt a lot but the scar was pretty cool. Again my class displayed excellent teamwork.
The following activity was titled mad max. It stood for maximum madness and involved, as its title suggests, maximum madness. There was a lot of climbing, both vertical and horizontal and it was an endeavor I was proud to overcome.
After that, we went for the mud walk. We walked through this long and muddy pathway and even sat in tar mud. It was pretty dirty but nonetheless enjoyable. The only issue we had was a negative encounter with a girl’s school. They were kicking mud in our faces and even their instructor did so. We weren’t happy about what happened but nonetheless did not take our revenge.
When we walked back to camp, it was shower time and the cleanup was very messy. Dinner was average but still better than nothing. After dinner was the highlight of my trip at least. It was the campfire. All the groups took turns to display their cheer and it was indeed fun. The facilitators also had performances of their own and their dances were spectacular.
After our principal declared that we could wear the long pants, I heard the loudest cheer ever in my life. It was bedtime and we went to sleep. The next and final day f the camp was pleasant. We had an overall briefing and they were announcing the winners of the two competitions. First was the “best cheer award.” This went to team banderlog.
I was very surprised and quite honoured that our class Chil won the best group award. I was the representative who collected all the Psp’s. (Personal stationery paper).
The journey ended on a high note and I learnt every single one of us was a sportsman.
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