My Outward Bound Experience
Holy crap, I just finished my Junior Enrichment for Teaching Fellows, and I did Outward Bound. It was insane. It was cool, but it was insane. I never knew I could hurt that much, and I never knew I could smell that bad. I mean, seriously, before the first day was over, I was in pain, and I reeked. We were backpacking with 40+ pound packs, and we're going uphill in a lot of places, so it was insanely hot and very challenging physically. It was even more challenging when we started 'bush pushing' on the second day. Basically, 'bush-pushing' means that you take off without a trail. So we went for several miles on that second morning bush-pushing uphill. By the time we got to the top of the mountain, I was literally dripping from the top seams of my tank top to the drawstrings around the ankles of my pants. And I wasn't the only one. We were all dripping. The guys, who were able to do this (lucky guys), were taking off their shirts and ringing the sweat out of them. I'm not kidding. It was hardcore.
After we got to the top of the mountain, we rappelled down the other side. It was a 150 ft drop off the other side, and we had to back down to the vertical drop, drop our packs so that they dangled below us, and then continue down the other side. It was SO cool!!! I wanted to do it again, except for the fact that I would've had to have done that whole hike thing again, and that would not have been cool. But still, doing another rappel at a later date would be sweet. So, that second night, we camped near the top of the mountain so that we could go back the next day and rock climb near where we rappelled. The rock climbing was intense. It was friction climbing, so we were having to rely solely on the friction between our boots and the rock to hold us up. It took serious trust, trust in yourself, in your shoes, in the guys at the bottom belaying your rope, and in your confidence to overcome whatever fear or doubt you might have had. All in all, it was so cool. When I got to the top of that first rope, which I happen to believe was on the hardest side of the rock, I felt amazing. It was the high point of my trip. That carabeaner was mine!! It was sweet!
The last major thing was our Personal Challenge Event, or PCE. It was a 4.8 mountain mile run. And yes, mountain mile is an important distinction to make, because we were running uphill 2.5 miles on the first part of the run. Everything after that was mostly downhill, though not always, so life was still interesting. I felt like I was dying almost from the get go. It was hot, I was exhausted, and I still had a lot of ground to cover. But Nicole, one of my instructors who was supposed to bring up the rear, i.e. me, was with me almost the whole way, keeping me positive and moving. In the end, I did it in about 80 minutes, which was excellent for me because I would've never believed I could do it before then.
The last night was solo, which basically means you spent the afternoon and night to yourself, away from everyone else, just collecting your thoughts and reflection on all that you had accomplished. And boy, did I have a lot to reflect on. I mean, I had done stuff that I had never thought I would ever do, or that I was even capable of. I had learned to trust ten other people so implicitly in such a short period of time, I couldn't believe it. The other 8 TF's and 2 instructors were my lifelines in that course, especially my buddy Lindsey. I met her at Junior Conference, though we didn't chat much, and then we really got tight on this trip because she kept me going. She kept me motivated, she kept me moving, and she made sure I was alright. And I did the same with her, and as a whole group, we all looked out for each other. I went through something with those people that will tie me to them forever. I would do that again in a heartbeat, especially with the same crew. We were amazing together. I mean, from day one, we had great trust. I mean, when they make you get in a tiny rope circle with all your crew members about two hours after you meet them, and then lay down on the outside of the circle, stretch back flat with your toes on the edge of the rope, and then put your compass behind your head, only to have to get back in the circle and reclaim your compass without touching the ground, you learn awful quick to trust your group, because the only way to get that compass is to have them take your hand and stretch you out over the ground and hold you up at the same time.
The food on this thing was a trip in and of itself. The first day, for lunch, we had dehydrated black beans that had been rehydrated. We put them in soft tortilla shells with cream cheese and ate them. Another breakfast was strictly granola and powdered milk. Yet another breakfast was grapenuts, not one of my personal favorites. We had a potato and onion meal, and an interesting veggie stir fry with canned chicken. All in all, a lot of protein, a lot of starch, and not a lot of meat. And I'm used to a meat diet. As Lindsey said, "I eat things with a face and a mother," so the no meat thing was pretty interesting. But, it all worked out.
Outward Bound was an amazing experience. For the first time in my life, I was really only in competition with myself. It was all about what I could do personally. I didn't have to be the best in the group, because our group was already good. We flew up hills and stuff. When I thought I was dragging and out of shape, I talked to our instructors who said that they were dragging at the pace we were keeping. We were busting it out in those woods, and I am dang proud of that. I learned that there really is nothing I can't do. I'd been told that all my life, but it had never been tested until this past weekend. On this course in the Transylvania County mountains, it got tested, and that test got passed with flying colors. I am extremely proud of what I did on Outward Bound, both individually and as a part of a group. I definitely think it made me a better person, and will hopefully make me a better teacher in the near future.
So now, after three extremely hectic weekends, I can now look back and smile, because I have completed every singe enrichment thing that Teaching Fellows can throw at me. I did the Discovery trip, I rocked the socks off of Senior Orientation, I sweated it out in late July Charlotte heat for Senior and Junior Conference, and lastly, I pushed myself harder and further than I every imagined on Junior Enrichment. I'm good, I'm done, and all I gotta do is graduate, and then off to MAT. Life is good my friends, thank God above, life is good.
"And all at once the crowd begins to say
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing
Are the same"
After we got to the top of the mountain, we rappelled down the other side. It was a 150 ft drop off the other side, and we had to back down to the vertical drop, drop our packs so that they dangled below us, and then continue down the other side. It was SO cool!!! I wanted to do it again, except for the fact that I would've had to have done that whole hike thing again, and that would not have been cool. But still, doing another rappel at a later date would be sweet. So, that second night, we camped near the top of the mountain so that we could go back the next day and rock climb near where we rappelled. The rock climbing was intense. It was friction climbing, so we were having to rely solely on the friction between our boots and the rock to hold us up. It took serious trust, trust in yourself, in your shoes, in the guys at the bottom belaying your rope, and in your confidence to overcome whatever fear or doubt you might have had. All in all, it was so cool. When I got to the top of that first rope, which I happen to believe was on the hardest side of the rock, I felt amazing. It was the high point of my trip. That carabeaner was mine!! It was sweet!
The last major thing was our Personal Challenge Event, or PCE. It was a 4.8 mountain mile run. And yes, mountain mile is an important distinction to make, because we were running uphill 2.5 miles on the first part of the run. Everything after that was mostly downhill, though not always, so life was still interesting. I felt like I was dying almost from the get go. It was hot, I was exhausted, and I still had a lot of ground to cover. But Nicole, one of my instructors who was supposed to bring up the rear, i.e. me, was with me almost the whole way, keeping me positive and moving. In the end, I did it in about 80 minutes, which was excellent for me because I would've never believed I could do it before then.
The last night was solo, which basically means you spent the afternoon and night to yourself, away from everyone else, just collecting your thoughts and reflection on all that you had accomplished. And boy, did I have a lot to reflect on. I mean, I had done stuff that I had never thought I would ever do, or that I was even capable of. I had learned to trust ten other people so implicitly in such a short period of time, I couldn't believe it. The other 8 TF's and 2 instructors were my lifelines in that course, especially my buddy Lindsey. I met her at Junior Conference, though we didn't chat much, and then we really got tight on this trip because she kept me going. She kept me motivated, she kept me moving, and she made sure I was alright. And I did the same with her, and as a whole group, we all looked out for each other. I went through something with those people that will tie me to them forever. I would do that again in a heartbeat, especially with the same crew. We were amazing together. I mean, from day one, we had great trust. I mean, when they make you get in a tiny rope circle with all your crew members about two hours after you meet them, and then lay down on the outside of the circle, stretch back flat with your toes on the edge of the rope, and then put your compass behind your head, only to have to get back in the circle and reclaim your compass without touching the ground, you learn awful quick to trust your group, because the only way to get that compass is to have them take your hand and stretch you out over the ground and hold you up at the same time.
The food on this thing was a trip in and of itself. The first day, for lunch, we had dehydrated black beans that had been rehydrated. We put them in soft tortilla shells with cream cheese and ate them. Another breakfast was strictly granola and powdered milk. Yet another breakfast was grapenuts, not one of my personal favorites. We had a potato and onion meal, and an interesting veggie stir fry with canned chicken. All in all, a lot of protein, a lot of starch, and not a lot of meat. And I'm used to a meat diet. As Lindsey said, "I eat things with a face and a mother," so the no meat thing was pretty interesting. But, it all worked out.
Outward Bound was an amazing experience. For the first time in my life, I was really only in competition with myself. It was all about what I could do personally. I didn't have to be the best in the group, because our group was already good. We flew up hills and stuff. When I thought I was dragging and out of shape, I talked to our instructors who said that they were dragging at the pace we were keeping. We were busting it out in those woods, and I am dang proud of that. I learned that there really is nothing I can't do. I'd been told that all my life, but it had never been tested until this past weekend. On this course in the Transylvania County mountains, it got tested, and that test got passed with flying colors. I am extremely proud of what I did on Outward Bound, both individually and as a part of a group. I definitely think it made me a better person, and will hopefully make me a better teacher in the near future.
So now, after three extremely hectic weekends, I can now look back and smile, because I have completed every singe enrichment thing that Teaching Fellows can throw at me. I did the Discovery trip, I rocked the socks off of Senior Orientation, I sweated it out in late July Charlotte heat for Senior and Junior Conference, and lastly, I pushed myself harder and further than I every imagined on Junior Enrichment. I'm good, I'm done, and all I gotta do is graduate, and then off to MAT. Life is good my friends, thank God above, life is good.
"And all at once the crowd begins to say
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing
Are the same"