On the 28th of August 2019, the DP1 class of 2021 left the comfort and safety of Colombo and made our way to the “Uncontrolled environment” of Borderlands. The bus ride was fairly uneventful, we met one of our guides named Riza. He was half Afghani and half Mongolian, which I and many of my peers commented on as being quite an unusual mix.

After arriving we were given our rooms and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I would be bunking with a student I hadn’t gotten to know and I looked forward to the opportunity to get to know him while sharing a room together.

The trip was an excellent opportunity to make new connections, something I found particularly evident in my team, as we underwent challenges, activities and games together.