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

Grade Seven Sibu Adventures!

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