Return from the High Plains

Steve Venour - Head of Secondary

If you’ve had the chance to talk with a current Year 9 student about their Wilderness experience, no doubt the word “rain” featured. It was relentless. The Wilderness experience is a challenge in its own right; each and every year, each and every participant finds they are pushed to their limit physically, emotionally, or spiritually – and sometimes all three at once! 2021 was no exception.

However, despite the rain, we saw spectacular vistas across God’s vast and beautiful Bogong High Plains, we lived in interdependent communities and we literally conquered mountains.  

Our goal each year is to take the Year 9s out of their comfort zones; and by it, we hope that they will recognise their strengths and weaknesses and how they are an integral member of our community. We hope this event will be an asterisk on their own “timeline of life” so that when they look back, they can see it as a moment when they recognised themselves as a tiny yet highly significant part of God’s creation; as a capable yet continuing learning student of life; and as a unique individual in need of a community to flourish as intended. 

Upon return, they are charged with the task of reflecting on the event. Here is one such student’s example: 

Snow Gums  

Sarah Strybosch  

The grey-white hue of snow gums  

glows in the early morning light.  

As the orange, pink and purple  

transforms the starry black of night.  

And I stand and watch the dull green leaves   

as are they washed in sunlight; cold and bright.   

My breath is like the grey-white snow gums;   

cold, frozen and white.  

The grey-white trunks of snow gums  

remind me of the things I left;   

my white sheets and smooth bed,  

soft carpet, dry head.  

They make me think of everything  

I didn’t realise I would miss,  

And as I pack my icy tent into my cold damp bag,   

the grey-white snow gums stand sentry.  

Maybe today, things won’t be so hard.  

The grey-white hue of snow gums   

follows our ascent.   

Up steep and slippery rocks   

and over dripping plants.   

The air is just as cold as before   

and the rain is pounding down,   

dripping down my raincoat hood and soaking into my boots.   

All I want is to stop.   

All any of us wants is to stop;   

A group of 12 girls, trudging through the rain.   

But we are here to remind each other;  

“You did it yesterday. You can do it again”.   

So as we continue,   

one step in front of the other,   

the grey-white hue of snow gums,   

reminds us of how far we already came.  

The grey-white branches of snow gums   

reflect how I look and feel;   

windswept, bent over and wet.   

But the snow gums grow in numbers;  

never ones to be found alone.   

And so we do the same,   

encouraging each other on.   

I could not have done it without those girls,   

as we moved one foot in front of the next.   

They forced me to go on when I thought I couldn’t   

and encouraged me when I needed it most.  

But the grey-white groups of snow gums,   

could not lead us everywhere.   

At times they disappeared,   

the weather too harsh for even them.   

If the snow gums cannot do it, I think,   

then how on earth can I?  

I don’t know if I can go on like this,   

the air so thin, the slope so high.   

“This camp is designed to pull us apart,   

then piece us back together,”   

one of my friends had shared.   

And as I thought on that, I realised one thing;  

In this moment when I am in pieces,   

the only person who can put me back together is Him.   

So maybe it’s ok  

If the snow gums are not here.   

Because as much as they help me keep going,   

I can go to someone else to bear.   

And as we crested the mountain,   

on the very first sunny day,   

the gentle wind in our hair   

and warming sun on our backs,   

I felt Him tell me what no words can say:   

I am always here.   

Where others are not,   

where others cannot make it,   

I can.   

And you can too.  

The grey-white hue of snow gums   

will forever remind me of everything I learnt this camp   

when we ventured out beyond our comfort zones.   

The gnarled and twisted branches   

with those simple green-brown leaves,  

taught me many things which I will forever   

carry with me.   

The biggest one is this:   

I can do hard things.   

I can do hard things and come out of it   

still moving forward.   

I might be a little more windswept  

and a little more bent over.   

I might be a little changed,   

but I am changed for the better;   

I know I can survive the toughest conditions   

and going forward, I will be able to stand proud.  

I will be able to keep pushing  

through the wind and rain that threatens  

to break me apart.   

I know that I can do anything I put my mind to   

if I have my roots in deep in the right soil.   

Most importantly, I know I can do hard things   

because I have Jesus by my side.  

The grey-white hue of snow gums   

glows bright in early morning light,   

but whether I have them there or not,   

I know I will be alright.