Project week was a trip I will never forget. The experience was amazing. From planning the trip to contacting the companies to finally going and completing the trip was magical. We had gone to Langkawi for an activity based trip and through the activities and the time spent, I not only learnt more about my friends, but I learnt more about myself. I learnt about my limits and my abilities and I am proud of myself that I was able to push my abilities to places I didn’t think they could go.
Our first activity was kayaking. This is something new for me and it was very challenging at first. I had to learn new techniques and use muscles and parts of my body in ways I hadn’t ever before. Initially, I had a hard time navigating with the proper technique and found myself at the back of the group, often drifting away, with the tide. Then, through the support of the staff at Wilderness Malaysia, I got a hang of the proper technique and found that it was much easier. I was able to catch up, often take over my friends and all in all, had a great time on the water. The first day was tough however, as it took us roughly seven hours to get from the mainland to the island and with the sun above our heads, it was very tiring. I believe that through the kayak, I achieved learning outcome 2 and learning outcome 4. Demonstrating new challenges and developing new skills (LO2) and showing commitment and perseverance (LO4).
The second day was biking. It was a 40km journey around the island. Unfortunately, after cycling 22km, I had gotten very bad cramps and after multiple tries, was unable to continue. However, despite not completing the activity, I was able to identify an area of personal growth (LO1), which is to be able to push through the pain and complete the activity. I think that this is a very important skill to have in life.
Day three was hiking, an activity I had been looking forward to before the had begun. However, it was not an easy trek. We were trekking 256m up and it had rained the night before, meaning that the terrain was slippery and humid. While I had done trekking expeditions in the past, this was unlike any trek I had been on before. The terrain was tough and we were often climbing over large trunks and under thorny bushes, all while trying to navigate the way ourselves. In my opinion, the way down was much harder than the way up as it was slippery and the forest was extremely dense. Through the trek, I achieved LO2, LO4 and Lo6. Lo6 was one that surprised me as I hadn’t realized the importance of working together in a team and the way that that affected the journey.
Finally, kayaking back was much easier as I already had the technique, and through the conversations during the trip, it felt much quicker.
Overall, project week was an unbelievable experience and I loved every minute of it.
