Embedded Files
Courage. What do we think when we hear this? Bravado? Heroic and grand sacrifices? Maybe these are true. But what I have learnt is that courage is as simple as putting yourself in a vulnerable position, for the benefit of your team or yourself.
From the 12th to the 17th of January, Kahe Nakhla and I had the pleasure of travelling to Great Barrier Island for an outdoor education leadership course helmed by Hillary Outdoors. We stayed in the beautiful and striking Orama Bay, along with 47 students from all across Aotearoa. We took part in various outdoor activities, such as, Sea Kayaking, Coasteering, jumping off large ledges into cold water, leading our teams in different and challenging team activities, high ropes course, rock climbing, Via ferrata, hiking and navigation.
A personal highlight would be,the ‘leap of faith’. We had to climb up a pole and leap onto a suspended bar, whilst being belayed by the rest of our team. It was particularly special because it was the first activity we did as a group and was the beginning of many situations where we were taken out of our comfort zone. Through these we were taught the lessons of showing courage and gaining mana. Getting to know our new team members was a mission and a half, but after kayaking to BBQ bay, setting up camp and being woken up at 3 AM and then hiking all across Great Barrier island, we all became very close friends. We learnt to recognise each member's strengths and weaknesses and to alter our tactics to suit. We learnt different leadership styles and approaches, how to use them and when they are appropriate. All of these lessons I learnt will be extremely conducive for achieving my goals as Head Boy and my future endeavours. I would like to thank Matua Andy and the College for giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Jacob Gates, 2020 Head Boy
Report abuse