Spotswood College is grateful to the George Mason Charitable Club and NP West Rotary for their ongoing sponsorship of our students to attend Outward Bound. Students are carefully selected to be a part of this 21-day gruelling, but incredibly rewarding experience.
Below are the reflections of this year's recipients.
Outward Bound
Imagine going away for three weeks with no phone(or any screens at all), no music or books. Having physical activity every day and loving it. For me this was Outward Bound, we were disconnecting to reconnect, living in the moment. Leaving for my course I was super nervous and excited, I would be living with 13 other people that I had never met before. I was leaving home for longer than I had ever been away for and had little idea of what I would be doing. Once I got there, I was straight into it, and I was too busy to worry about anything, but within the first few days, I came to love it at Outward Bound. As a watch(our group) we did nearly everything together, we went rock climbing, sailing, tramping, bush bashing, coasteering (which is where you make your way around the coast, jumping off rocks and cliffs and swimming through channels in the sea). Not only that but we would clean dishes together, swim, run, and set up camp. As well to the physical aspect of Outward Bound, there was also the mental and emotional side, diving into what makes you, you, goals, values and mindsets. I learned so much mentally, emotionally and physically And I'm so grateful I have had the chance to go on this amazing course.
Olive Denton-Woolley, Year 12.
Kia Ora, my name is Leo Leaana. I am a current year 11 student at Spotswood College and I am writing this letter to show my appreciation and gratitude to my Sponsors and My School for Nominating me to attend Outward Bound on April 10th 2022.
I am so grateful to my school Spotswood College for nominating me to attend and to those who helped fund it.
For 21 days I was pushed to my limits, I laughed, I cried, I felt angry, sad, lost, confused, frustrated, annoyed and very homesick. This was something I never thought I'd get to experience but feel so privileged to have been given the chance to. This experience definitely made me learn to appreciate people and life more. Before I went to Outward Bound, I was just a young athlete with no clue about what I wanted to do with my future. I had a lot of self-doubts and no confidence in myself, coming out of my 21-day experience I'm a much more confident person inside and out and nothing goes in my too hard kete anymore. It was a really trying experience at times learning to eat small rations was hard to adjust to for an eater like myself haha, we were totally pushed out of our comfort zone and at times didn't want a bar of it, but once we got past day 2 you just learnt to enjoy every moment best you could. No day was ever the same for us. I got to experience activities many kids my age would only dream of. We ran 10ks daily, sailed, tramped, camped, swam, zip lined, faced fears with heights and kayaked just to name a few. Adjusting to early morning wake-ups was hard for most of us but become normality really quick. So many memories were made and lifelong friendships began. Met so many who wouldn't be my normal crowd and now we are really close. My favourite memories about Outward Bound would have to be camping, sailing & waka ama, we camped a few places, but camping on the ridges under the stars would have to top the cake, beautiful sight, although our things got drenched most times and almost flew away it was still awesome haha. I got to experience a lot of first-time things. So many highs for me, it is hard to put into words the feeling you got being out there in the elements doing all we did, absolutely breathtaking would be my words to sum it all up. The scenery was unreal, nothing like I'd ever seen before. From the Ferry ride over from wellington to the calm waters in Malbrough sounds and Picton.
Being at Outward Bound helped me set a few goals to help set a pathway for my future and I can't wait to see it all pan out. In the future, I hope to become an instructor at Outward Bound and give back to others what I got to experience during my time there. For now, I hope I can be a great role model to my peers and those around me and guide them the best I can with the skills I acquired on this 21-Day course. You learn a lot about yourself and who you are at Outward Bound and pick up some great tools to share with others. I really hope more rangatahi get to have the experience I had, it was so life-changing for me and I know it will be for others. Once again thank you for the nomination to attend this 21-day Outward Bound experience it meant a great deal and I had the time of my life.
Leo Leaana
