Year 7&8 Summit Camp

Zachariah C. (Year 7)

From the 6th to the 10th of May, Year 7 and 8 students excitedly got the opportunity to experience ‘The Summit.’ It was a week filled with excitement, nerves, new opportunities, fun and laughter. We were put outside our comfort zone as we faced different challenges and came out of it feeling proud of our achievements. One of the highlights for me was being part of the camp worship team and the Summit Window, in this challenge we had to climb a tall ladder and lean back at the top. Even though this challenge was a little daunting, my group all gave it a go and I was proud of us all. Overall, it was a brilliant experience where we were able to bond with each other and have fun with the teachers. 

Makayla N. (Year 8)

The Year 7/8 camp was such a blast! The activities were so fun and they all made everyone so much more confident. 

This is what I thought about camp: The hardest part about abseiling was trusting Logan (the instructor), that he would hold on to the rope, ensuring that we wouldn’t fall to the ground. Once I felt comfortable, I went down very fast and I pretended that I was a Spiderman. 

I wasn’t scared about the giant swing. I was super excited to go to the very top but what made it more fun was Zoe G next to me contemplating her life decisions. I told her that we would be fine and when we dropped down, we were screaming our heads off which was so much fun. 

The mud run was fun but tiring at the same time. All the obstacles were challenging but my team was working well together, and getting all muddy, wet, and cold was so fun. My favourite part was when we got to roll around in the mud like pigs and get as dirty as we could. 

I was a bit scared of climbing up to the top of The Summit Window, but the view was so beautiful, once I was at the top I was looking around at the view thinking about how amazing it was. 

Tash’s Ladder was like the little sibling of The Summit Window, so I wasn’t scared to do it. Once I got to the top of the ladder, I looked around at the amazing view and since it was the last activity at camp, I could see all the activities we had done at camp and thought about how awesome camp had been. 

Late-night laughing in the cabins at night was one of the best parts of camp. Before bed, my friends and I would try to sleep but we would always end up laughing and making jokes and Mrs Wan (or Mrs Chu) would tell us that we were too loud which made as laugh even more.  This camp brought everyone so much closer together and helped us to trust people. My friend group has gotten so much closer and we all learned more about each other and our other classmates. The Year 7s and 8s get along with each other better now. I am so grateful to have been able to go on this camp. It was incredible! 

Gabrielle T. (Year 7)

An awesome camp leader, named Mim, shared with us all how to expand our comfort zone. Your comfort zone is the place where you feel comfortable. To expand your comfort zone, you first have to set a target. 

A Target is something that you know you can do; and know you can achieve. From there you set a Stretch, which is where you have to work a little bit harder to achieve. With each step, your comfort zone grows. Next up is a Super Stretch, which is something that seems impossible, but you might have a chance at it on a really good day. This strategy helps me with breaking large, daunting challenges into smaller, tolerable chunks.

This strategy helped me when I went on the rock wall. It was towering over me, and I was more than a bit nervous to climb it. Mim, our instructor, asked us one at a time what our target was (Target, Stretch, or Super Stretch) and she helped me look at the rock wall again with new eyes. Instead of a fearsome wall, I saw a challenge that I could face and overcome. 

Selina C. (Year 8)

This year’s camp at the Summit was infinitely better than last year’s experience, ranging from the weather to the cabin and activity groups.

Straight away on Day 1 everyone was glad to see that the weather was nothing like last year. With the sunny weather and the cool breeze, the camp was off to a great start. We were greeted with amazing news of the cabin situation when we arrived. There were no more Tebins (tent cabins) after the finished renovation. Having the whole village/bungalow area to ourselves, we were given the experience of having bonding time with new people in our separate cabins.

The free time went from 4.30pm to dinner at 6.00pm and we all have many great thanks to the Summit for providing us with meals and snacks every day. The lunches consisted of burgers and a variety of wraps while the dinner consisted of meats with gravy, potatoes, peas, salads pasta and more potatoes.

One highlight that I remember from camp would be the time when we were done with the mud run and were talking about how it stinks, of course. Mrs Chu thought of an amazing analogy: when water stops moving and stays in one place it becomes stagnant mud while rivers run, keeping it clean. This represents our spirit and faith because if we keep moving closer to God and keep reading the bible to get stronger, we can be clean and healthy, while if we were to stay still in spirit we would become stagnant, stuck, and unclean.

Camp with schoolmates is a great opportunity to socialise and get to know people better. At the end of the camp, we had an activity given to us by Mr Simmons to create something with five pieces of paper and tape that reflected on our camp experience, with my group (The Cool Kids) winning with a pair of paper glasses, since after all that teamwork and encouragements, we now all see each other differently.

Thank you to Christway staff and The Summit for giving the Year 8s a good last summit camp.