Joyce Oh
On Wednesday,
April 6, the Dalat eighth graders gathered together early in the morning and
took a three-hour bus trip up to Ipoh for their transition retreat. The
students were chaperoned by Ms. Wood, Mr. Nguyen, and Mr. Roylance, who had a
lot of exciting events planned for them for the next three days.
The eighth graders were kept active
during their retreat, participating in activities, such as caving, white water
rafting, and climbing giant rocks, that helped them engage with nature,
allowing them to take a break from the extensive screen-time they’re used to
having on regular days.
On the second day, the group went
white water rafting after a mini-lesson from the instructor on how to go
against a fast current in case they fall off. They also got to practice how to
rescue their friends, such as throwing ropes correctly, and even how to jump
into the deep water without losing control.
After the energy-draining water
activity, the group spent some time with the local children at the orphanage.
As senior middle schoolers who’ve been around elementary and kindergarten kids
back at school, the eighth graders took the initiative to play games with the
children and build relationships with them.
According to Gloria Kim (8), who was
part of the activity-planning committee, the students and the children had a
great time while making paper airplanes and throwing them, taking turns doing
the jump rope, and playing simple games such as tag and duck-duck goose to
break the ice and share laughter.
After such an eventful second day,
the students and the teachers looked forward to a restful evening; however, the
students claimed that sleep was impossible when they’re busy having fun. The
students were given two rooms total in Earth Camp, the place where they stayed,
with one room for all the boys and the other for all the girls.
“We were all in bunk beds and
couldn’t stop chatting. One person would laugh at something, and we all
followed. I barely got any sleep because everyone was so hyper, but it was
worth giving up sleep since we got to bond and know more about each other,”
said Risa Sasada (8).
Thankfully, Earth Camp provided
delicious Malaysian food each meal, which gave them energy for the day that they
did not receive from sleep.
On their last day, the group was
faced with the most challenging, yet the most fun, activity. They spent the
whole morning at Mountain School, which is the equivalent of Escape in Penang.
With lots of trees and giant rocks
to climb, the students not only challenged themselves physically but also
mentally, as they had to demonstrate perseverance and endurance during the
tough course throughout the jungle.
Once they had completed the last
activity of the whole retreat, the students made their way back to Dalat,
exhausted but renewed at the same time. This transition retreat was not one
heavy with instruction lectures; by doing these activities, the students
learned for themselves important things like friendship, maturity, growth, and
perseverance.
During small group discussions, they
had the chance to reflect on their middle school years, allowing them to learn
from their mistakes and healthily move on to have a successful start of high
school in the upcoming year.
Ultimately, the retreat taught them
to cherish the time they have with one another, for the next four years of high
school will go by faster than they would expect.
Comments
Post a Comment