DP1 Orientation!
From the 28th of August to the 31st, the enthusiastic class of 2021 embarked on an adventure that would be marked in history as the start of their bold and rigorous two-year-long journey through the IB Diploma…DP Orientation!
The three-day trip took place in Kitulgala, Sri Lanka. The trip was organized by Borderlands which is a foundation that was created in order to put students out of their comfort zones, in addition, it also acts as a bonding experience for the students as it encourages students to interact with one another and create new friendships. Given that we are now currently only 17 months away from graduating, these friendships and memories are something that I will treasure and come back to.
Day 1: Leap Of Faith
The first day of DP orientation started bright and early, followed by a three-hour bus ride into the mountains of Kitulgala. We were taken straight away to the white water rafting site, and after being treated to by snacks and tea we were immediately told to put on our life jackets and helmets for canyoning. I had never been canyoning or rafting so I wasn’t sure what to expect from it after we put on our equipment we were then taken on a small hike to the canyoning site. On the way to the site we already experienced a few memories that I’m sure that we would all treasure such as Kevin falling down while crossing the river serval times to the point where he had to crawl across. Once we reached the canyoning site we were briefed on the safety instructions, at this point I was already out of my comfort zone surrounded by freezing water, leaches, and constant drizzle. Canyoning proved to be extremely exciting, who knew that sliding down rocks and getting hit by cold water could be so enjoyable. After canyoning, we came back to where we were dropped off and had lunch under a bridge surrounded by the sound of the water hitting rocks.
After lunch, we went on another small hike to go to the rafting top of the river where the white water rafting starts. Before we could begin we had to go over the safety briefing, when we had to practice the swimming positions we were broken down into homerooms and formed a circle and then we were told to do the white water rafting position in the freezing water and the fact that the instructors were throwing the water at our faces didn’t help much. However after the briefing, we finally got to get onto the raft, but before we took our leap of faith through the rapids we had to learn how to paddle and communicate as a team in order to get through the rapids in one piece without capsizing. While we were practicing we couldn’t help but mess around a little bit, as every time we got close to another group we all started huddle water towards them and when I say we this is including our instructor as well. Finally, after a few moments of practicing, we were able to go into the rapids. We had only just started to go down the river, but we could already hear the