From Class to Tribe

On August 28th OSC’s grade 11, that includes me, went on our DP Orientation Trip to Kitulgala. This trip was focused on making sure our grade as close as possible in going forward through the next two years of DP, it also focused on preparing us for the many skills and challenges ahead. At the start of this I was not sure it would be very useful as our class was already an almost unsettlingly close community, but this trip, it somehow broke down so many unseen barriers that previously we just assumed were a permanent part of our dynamic. It did this by taking us out of our regular environments and so removed our regular habits, by forcing togetherness and by creating dozens of shared memories that only we have that cant truly be explained to anyone else…

That being said… Here are some core memories, skip to the end for my favorite part.

Endless, endless hiking…. We explored mountains, temples, caves and rivers, we bonded in our shared admiration of our surroundings, and in our shared suffering as our legs punished us for asking to much of them.

 

There was also time to think and discuss, we always reflected on what we learnt from these new and exciting experiences. Part of the experience was interviewing members of the local population and my group with Taneishq and Anuda was given the opportunity to interview a tea plantation manager and we learned tonnes of information on the care and protection of the plants as well as the various skills and techniques used to improve their quality and bounty.

 

We bonded through the shared excitment of the canyoning, white water rafting and abseiling. While many of the activities should have been terrifying, our groups camaraderie, and judgement… spurred us on to act without even the slightest hestiation.

 

 

One last memory, what I truly consider to be the most terrifying moments of my life up to this point, giant jenga. I have been burnt, bitten and stung, I have fallen from moderate heights and I have had dangerous sicknesses but I have never been so nervous. During that game I doubt there was even one of us who did not have to, least once, reason down their fear of unnatural death or at least greivous injury. It was dangerous as when we crouched to take a block we risked blocks falling on top of us, and when we rose to place it on we risked unbalancing the whole tower and crushing out teammates. And yes, we were a team. We began the game competitively but by the end our main concern ending the game without casualties, we began protective systems to ensure it was always possible to move back quickly in an accident, we built to ensure the safety of the group and we all instinctly prepared to jump and push aside our classmates if it came to it. To any who feel I am hyperbolizing, simply look at my chest in the second picture as I stack a tower higher than me… and look at them in the back creating a protective cordone to ensure I have space to jump back, all the while whispering advise and encouragement.