Can classmates, who may not be even familiar with each other, warm up to one another in just the first few weeks of school? Well, the students of UWC were put to the test when they were challenged to kayak the choppy waters of Sibu Island located merely off the coast of Malaysia, early in the school year during October. The children of the seventh grade class kayaked through heavy winds and rageful waves for more than six kilometres.
This whole trip was organised by the Outdoor Education department of the school.To clarify, outdoor education is lesson taught in UWC teaching handy everyday life like first aid or team working skills. The main reason the department wanted to execute this trip earlier in the year was so that the students who were put into their classes could connect better with each other and create a more trusted relationship faster as some of the students have never even met each other before they were allocated together.
Sibu is a humble island with ferocious waters and during the 6 kilometre kayak, even some of the classes’ sports enthusiasts were left absolutely drained and felt as if they just wanted to crawl into the warm embrace of their cozy blanket and the soft comfort of their bed. The only refresh they experienced during this challenge was the cool breath of wind brushing through their sea-salt textured hair, which at times was not as friend as the unmerciful waves. The journey took up space of nearly half of the day with only about 3 water break as the ocean at this time was too unpredictable to trust if we could stay still to drink water as the risk of capsizing in open water was immense.
This pushed many to the edge, but one the expedition was over the 22 kids landed on a beautiful, narrow, untouched beach with sand that felt as cushiony as velvet. But what did the children think? According to a student who participated in this event, Sidney, she says, “I never thought I would do something like this and now that I have done it, I am proud of myself. But even though I am glad I did it, I wouldn’t do it again! It was so tiring!” It seemed that even though all the children took pride in what they experienced but they said that it was definitely not something they would repeats there were many obstacles and were completely thawed of any energy.
It was obvious that the students had bonded over their kayak, meeting the expectations of the Outdoor Education Department. This maybe wouldn’t be an experience they would have done in the first place but it definitely taught them that challenging yourself is the only way to know if you would have liked it or not. Just say yes!
By Sofia
This pushed many to the edge, but one the expedition was over the 22 kids landed on a beautiful, narrow, untouched beach with sand that felt as cushiony as velvet. But what did the children think? According to a student who participated in this event, Sidney, she says, “I never thought I would do something like this and now that I have done it, I am proud of myself. But even though I am glad I did it, I wouldn’t do it again! It was so tiring!” It seemed that even though all the children took pride in what they experienced but they said that it was definitely not something they would repeats there were many obstacles and were completely thawed of any energy.
It was obvious that the students had bonded over their kayak, meeting the expectations of the Outdoor Education Department. This maybe wouldn’t be an experience they would have done in the first place but it definitely taught them that challenging yourself is the only way to know if you would have liked it or not. Just say yes!
By Sofia
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