May 2^nd

Arrival

When I arrived I didn’t know what to expect. I thought it would just be a small area with little houses and a small lake but I was way wrong. It was this big land with about five houses spread out and a awesome lake view that was spread out for miles long. When I got off the crammed bus I felt a cool breeze go into my face and out the other side. My friends and I started taking our stuff out of the bus and onto the lawn. My luggage was at the very end of the pick up so it took a while until I saw mine. After that, the girls took the stuff to the triplets/dorms and the boys took their stuff to the englebretsen where they were staying at. I was in triplets 1 with Alyssa, Bella, Payton, Emily, Lauren, Yeji, and Chelsea. We didn’t have much time to unpack so we had to just figure out who was sleeping where and drop off the stuff and go to discuss the rules.

Teams Course

It started a little late because of all the time it took for people to put down their stuff and lunch.For the

teams course we were separated into groups and were to go into the woods to do games that had to involve everyone. The first thing we did was the magic carpet. We were told that we were going to Jamaka on the magic carpet but we were riding on it upside down. So we had to flip it right side up without anyone falling off or else we had to start all over. After about eight techniques and about fifteen minutes, we finally got it. Next we did the island. We had to all squish together on a little platform. There were three of them and all we got to us was two boards and a rope, we eventually made it but we kind of cheated because we weren’t allowed to get off even though it was too crowed. Last but not least we did the Spider Web. The Spider Web was the easiest  out of all the activities but it took a while because there was so many people with so many ideas.

Fun And Games At Night

After dinner we did relay races. It felt really motivating and you couldn’t stop watching or else you would miss something. All the games we played that night all tied in together because at the end of each relay race you had to sit down in a chair on the other side of the gym with something in your hand. The way all the teachers counted the scores was 1^st place got five points, 2^nd place got three points, 3^rd place got one point, and the other two teams got nothing. At the end of the relay races one of our teachers counted up the scores. We came in last with one point! I was really sad because we had one point from the entire relay race at night. But the good thing about it was that everyone got oversized rice crispy treats at the end. I was only half done with mine when dorm time ended.

Dorm Time

For dorm time on the first night we were planning on playing Kan Kan with my three other friends. That changed in less than three minutes. About ten to fifteen other girls came in our cabin. They were from triplets two and said that they had to stay there until their chaperones came back because they went on a night hike. It was very overwhelming because about thirty-five girls were in a little tiny cabin. Soon after they settled in they started taking over our beds. Someone took over my bed so I had to move over to my friend, Payton’s bed. Two people took over her bed so she went over to my other friend, Emily, who was right under me. They started playing some games that involved a lot of talking. If I got a bullhorn and screamed something they still wouldn’t hear me. Then they started excluding us from their games. Then a miracle happened, Mrs. Mazar, our gym teacher told them to got into a different room and play their game so we could play our game. One of the girls decided to say “No.” I was so proud of myself when I said this, “ It’s our cabin, the only reason why you came here is because your chaperones were out night hiking, so that doesn’t mean you can take over our cabin and exclude us from your games.” After that they finally went to the other room. I wish I could of thought of that sooner because after about a minute they moved into another room, their chaperones came back, but they left behind a lot of trash that we had to clean up.

May 3^rd

Waking up

I was so sad that we had to wake up so early and from what happened the night before, I would of like to have slept a little longer. But the good thing about waking up was that I was starving and breakfast was only a half an hour away. I got dressed and ready in less than ten minutes. Other people weren’t as fast as I was so I was talking to my friend Payton while everyone else was getting ready. We headed done to be everyone else was. We were a few minutes early so we talked, walked around the park, and played some Kan Kan. Finally the bell rang and we all rushed forward the food place.

Nature

After breakfast we headed to Nature. We went through each of the five senses and did an activity using each of them. The first one we did was sight. For sight we taped our thumbs so we couldn’t use them and tried to open a piece of candy. It worked out great for me but not so much for other people. The next thing we did was touch. We were blindfolded and were assigned a partner. The partner was to take you to a tree and hug it. Then you had to take the blindfolded person back to the start, unblind fold them, and find the tree you were hugging before. My partner and I found ours easy, even though we took each other into the strangest places. Into a ditch, spin them around, take them around and around a tree, and even take them to the other side of the driveway.

Entomology

In Entomology we learned about insects. We learned about were they came from, what to appreciate about them, and then we did a little activity. She would put a picture of a bug and its name on our backs and walk around and try to guess what they are. I guessed mine in about two minutes. I was a dragonfly. Then she went around and asked us what you thought was interesting about the insect you had on your back. She skipped my friends and me. Then the fun part came. We had to make our own little insect out of candy, and then tell about them. We had to say its name, what the body pats are and who is their food. At the end we all got to eat them.

Orienteering

Orienteering is where you learn how to use a compass. First we took the compasses and kept turning them and putting the little stash into the other slash that is lined up with the number. For example, our teacher, Mr. Ogden, told us to go to 180 degrees. So we went there and he said if you did it right the arrow should be pointing south and he pointed in that direction. Then our next activity was to get a penny, place it on the ground somewhere, and then he would give you a bunch of numbers, then you would have to walk about 10 big footsteps, after a while you should be standing on your coin if you did it right. Then we were assigned groups and were told to follow the chart and you should end up at a letter in the tree. For example, it would say 140 degrees, 16 footsteps, then you would have to turn your compass to 140, and take 16 footsteps, if you did it right you should end up near a letter and then you would have to follow the next set of directions. You had to record the data on the sheet that had the directions and then when you were done you had to take it back to the teacher and he would have to check it. Sadly this activity didn’t involve candy.

Survival

After lunch we started Survival which was really fun. When we got there we saw a fire going and I knew that something about this was going to be fun. First we talked about what you shouldn’t do and should do, then we talked about what you should bring if you were hiking in the wilderness. We had to list three things. I picked food, clothes, and a weapon for food. Then after that we were assigned groups by our teacher, and were to build a shelter in about fifteen minutes. Sadly that was really had because normally it would take you about two hours, but instead we only had fifteen minutes. I was in a group with William, Colleen, and Youngjin. We were kind of taking it slow the first ten minutes, but then the last five, we were working like if we didn’t finish, we would be dead. Finally at the last second we finished. Then we went over to someone else’s group and explained what they did, and how you can get in and out. We did that for all three groups until we came to our shelter. William is really small so he got to go inside the shelter during the explanation. He showed everyone how it was made and everything else. Then we heard a loud BOOM! We looked over from where it came from and saw one of the shelters calps into a big pile of wood. One of the boys yelled out, “ No our shelter is ruined, it was the best one and now it’s the worst now they have the best one!” Then the teacher said, we were going to do that sooner or later so it would be ready for the next group. Then we started destroying our shelters.

New Games

For new games we first did capture the flag. I was of the fastest girl on my team. We also had another fast person and the other side only had one fast person. The sad thing is we lost. I don’t know how it happened but it just did. The next thing we did was we had a choice of 3 activities, we decided to play kickball. Our team lost again but I think we lost because Mr. Henley, our gym teacher was on the other team. He scored about for home runs. I don’t think it was me because I’m one of the fastest people in my grade and you need speed to do both of those games. The good thing about capture the flag was I didn’t get out.

Archery

I love archery, it’s my favorite sport in the whole entire world.In Archery we learned about what it was used for and then we got the chance to hit some darts. I was good at it but I kept on hitting it too high so I couldn’t even reach it, and I’m one of the tallest people in the grade so you rarely see me having trouble getting something that was high above over my head. Then I finally got the hang of it. After six times of jumping, the teacher put up some balloons to hit. I was always right above it but because of the wind I couldn’t pop it. Finally one of the boys popped the balloon and we all cheered. Then the teacher stepped in and popped the rest of the balloons.

Campfire

After dinner we had the campfire. It was really peace full but we only had about fifteen sticks only so we had to wait our turn until someone gave it to us. My friends and I got the two smores. The campfire was so quiet most of the time, other times it got really loud and I couldn’t hear myself think, and other times I just heard whispering in  the back round like there is a ghost that’s coming to haunt me and they are trying to figure out a plan to kill me.

Dorm Time

In dorm time we played Kan Kan again. I was so happy that night that Triplets 2 wasn’t there because if they were, I would of eventually moved to another cabin. The same people played Kan Kan, Alyssa, Payton, Emily, and myself. The rest of the people, Lauren, Bella, Chelsea, Yeji, played Soletar. We took turns taking a shower so there was always one group that had three people and one group that had four people. In Kan Kan there has to be four players so when one of the Kan Kan players were taking a shower we would take one player from Soletar and move her over to a Kan Kan player. Lauren was always picked to come over and play our game by her friend, Payton. Bella always got mad because Payton kept on picking Lauren instead of Bella. Finally everyone finished taking a shower and were changed into pjs. Finally after a half an hour talking about our games, the loudest talker, Payton, fell asleep, so we followed along.

May 4^th

Rise And Shine

We woke up at 6:30 and had to be ready at around 7:10. It was so tiring. I have woken up only a few times at 6:30. That morning I was the 3^rd to get up. I wasn’t ready for that day, everyone wanted to sleep more. But of course, Mrs. Mazar got us going to get ready. We had to take turns changing in the shower and bathroom. Then it got a little crazy, there was screaming and yelling about something to do with the changing technique. Some people didn’t like it because it took up too much time. Finally we were making our way down at around 7:11.

Packing Up

Before we headed down we had to pack up all of our stuff. I was the first one to finish so I was talking to Alyssa and kept brushing my hair until I got tired of it. Everyone was packed up in less than 15 minutes. Everyone else but Alyssa and me had their stuff all spread out so we had to help so we could get back on schedule.

Ropes And Climbing Wall

After breakfast we did the ropes and climbing wall. Since I am afraid of heights I was even terrified to do the ropes course.But then I saw the climbing wall. It was 50 ft tall with four sides. Three of the sides it was a rock-climbing wall all the way up.The one side was this spider rope that you had to climb up and then at about half way you had to climb up these logs. They were each about 3 ft apart. I used the one with the logs because I hate rock climbing even if it’s two feet above the ground. Then I got to the top. The whole entire rock-climbing wall was like a lighthouse. When I got to the top I looked down and it looked like I was 1000 ft above the ground. The best part about it was the zip line. At first when you take your first step you feel like your going to fall but actually you fall down at about 5-10 ft then you do the zip line. At first I was screaming my head off but then it got to the fun part. I screamed until I was about a quarter way down until I finally stopped screaming.

The Way Home

On the way home, we talked more and more. I was reading my book again most of the time until I got bored. One of the other girls started poking me so that got really annoying. I switched to the next seat next to Bella. She was listening to music on her ipod and took up most of the seat so I kept falling off every time the bus made a turn. Finally we got home and sat down because I was totally not ready for anything since the day started. I didn’t get enough sleep and I was still creped out from the ropes and climbing wall.

What I learned

What I learned was what to do if you want to got on a hiking trip. I learned also how to build a stable shelter with just wood. I also now know what to pack of your going on a hiking trip and it’s not a good idea to go alone. I learned how to use a compass. I now know not to do anything you don’t want to do and but you should force yourself enough to overcome your fears. I now know more about insects, where they came from, why you should appreciate them. I already knew how to use your five scenes but I still learned more about them and why we have our five scenes. Most importantly I learned how to corporate with others more. This Outdoor Education has been an awesome experience, I had a wonderful time and learned a lot at the same time.