Soaking Up The Sibu Sun

The 22 grade 7 students from the class 7ACu had been on a long journey so far but they were now going to participate in one of the hardest journeys they were going to undertake on the Sibu expedition. Pulau Sibu, also known as Sibu Island, is a small island off Malaysia's eastern coast, facing the South China Sea, this is where all grade 7‘s go to when they are off on their outdoor education expedition for that specific year. .Even the most energetic and athletic students were put to the test on this length of kayaking.

The students were prepared to take a stab at the 7km kayak even though according to their peers who were now back in Singapore it was terrible and pointless . Admittedly they were struggling, some of them wouldn’t talk and others were yelling encouragements to others such as “Come on, you can do this, we’re almost half way there”, these encouragements were mostly given out by the instructors as the students were much too tired to be talking. One of the students from the class, Lauren gave her opinion on the stretch and this is what she said, “I thought it was quite tiring and also very boring because all we were really doing was kayaking for a couple hours straight” . However it wasn’t an entirely negative thing as this certainly was able to bond the class closer together as they had to work as a team. Considering it was the last week of September and it was only the start of the academic year, this was a great way for the class to get to know one another.

What was the point to this activity? To experience activities that helped build their teamwork skills and their relationship as a class and well as improving their overall kayaking skills. The group had to push their way through with Mr.Douglas the accompanying teacher yelling “Hat patrol, hat patrol” in hope that the class would keep our hats on but in all honesty the constant repetition of the words annoyed them. The students were getting tired of the monotonous arm motions and the sounds of the waves. Some were on the verge of giving up and others were starting to get slightly sea-sick forcing the kayaking instructors to give them a helping hand which they were willingly able to do. It was as if they were experiencing waking up on a Monday morning again and again. It had been too long and it was time for a well deserved break.

“Head to the beach” one of the instructors yelled at the group and this was their moment of relief as this meant they were almost there, the slower and less active students were greeted by a few smiling faces of their peers pushing them to reach their goal. Surprisingly the minute they heard this news their motivation level to complete it suddenly bolted up as they rushed to reach the beach. A small group of the students washed up onto the shore, it was the end of their expedition. They all sighed in relief exclaiming things such as “yay we didn’t die” . It was difficult and it may have required some severe resilience but they all made it safely to the sandy beach and although it wasn’t as posh as a 5 star hotel it certainly looked more inviting than sitting back down in those kayaks. The point is even the most difficult situations can have its positive aspects, they may not be noticeable straight away but in the long run they help build you into the person you are meant to be.

By Sneha