Having been able to go nowhere during the last 2 years due to the COVID pandemic, while studying online with 0 socialization and minimal interaction with classmate’s educational trip provided us with the benefit to get closer to schoolmates and getting to know the teachers better. The school organizes an educational trip every year with schoolmates to make it able to visit different heritage locations and aesthetic viewpoints. This year’s trip was a little challenging for me as I am a big fan of mountains, and I also had to build my stamina to trek and not get left behind, and also maintain my energy and speed throughout the 3 different treks with different distances to travel.
The purpose behind selecting this experience for my CAS is because this is one of the new activities that I tried for the first time, and challenged my body to work harder in any position it gets into. I learnt to always be able be up for any situation, rather than making excuses to not do so.
During the trip, the school had different activities planned for us each day. On day 1 we were given breakfast when reached and then I took a little nap after that to cool down. We had a 6km trek which started after 5, during the trek we were made familiarized with the surrounding, and the trainers shared their experience and knowledge that could be useful at other times, for example, by the dissection of the excretion found from the road, you can identify the animal’s habitats in the forest, and be aware in the future. The 6 km trip ended at around 7:30, after which we had dinner, and at 9:00 pm almost everyone was half asleep.
The next day we were woken up at 6:00 am for exercise so that the body could stretch and become a little flexible. After that, we were given time to freshen up and had breakfast. For the morning there were different obstacle activities planned for us, after which we had lunch, after which we went for a 12km trek after which was dinner, after which we had a bonfire with some Maggie made by one of my classmates.
For the last day, we went for a 2km sunrise trek, and then got freshened up and had breakfast. As it was our last day, we packed our bags and went rock climbing, after which we were given time to explore the place with friends, then we went back to the campsite and took our luggage and Bote the train, and within no time we were back to Surat.
LO1: Identify your own strengths and develop areas for growth.
As I mentioned before, I am not a very big fan of physical activities unless I am interested in that particular sport, and trekking is not something I’m fond of. I had no stamina for the 12km trek and to complete that mind and body both required motivations to complete. The view after the trek made it all worth it. It made it gain the energy to go back to the campsite. Also, while having obstacle activities, it was hard to take the weight of my body at higher points, which made me realize that I could still do it.
LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
At first, I was shy while doing the obstacle but then I got the motivation and strength to complete the activity. Even during the 11km trek, it was hard to reach the endpoint, all of my energy was draining, and I was feeling weak, but someone said that keep a strong mind and keep on repeating I’ll be able to finish it. And I actually did finish it.
