Alpine School

This term, 5 of our year 9 students – Kayley Crees, Kyamah Justice, Paula Niyibibiona, Eddi Dhourjang and Barec Akol – have been studying at the Alpine School for Student Leadership in Dinner Plain, Victoria. After taking the five hour drive to get there, they have been spending the last five weeks skiing, hiking, riding bikes and learning! Some of the students have written a short letter talking about their time away so far:

The Alpine School has been a roller coaster, to say the least. I had pretty terrible homesickness, itchy leech bites, amazing new friends, split open knees, an aching body from expo but I am so grateful to be here. This has definitely been the best experience of my life, and I will definitely cherish the 9 weeks that I attend school here in Dinner Plain… I love it here, I wish I could never leave, but I also miss being in Melton and being around my family and friends... I’m learning so much about myself here and it’s an understatement to say that I’m over the moon about not having a math class. My experience here would be so different if I hadn’t become friends with the people I now call my best friends.

Kayley Crees

So far I’ve had an amazing time here at the SSL. One of the challenges for me has been being away from my family and friends for such a long time. The biggest challenge was expo one, but it was also one of my successes. The walk was extremely tiring and the massive pack on my bag didn’t make it much better. I was tired for most of it, especially on the second day. I had a massive steep hill to climb up and I was so tired I didn’t want to walk, but I had to keep going so we could get to the top. Once we got to the top, we saw where we had walked from and that’s when I realised what we had achieved, which is why I think it was also one of my biggest successes here. Another success for me is settling in the way I have. It didn’t take me that much time to make new friends and settle in which is the exact opposite to what I had expected. I was able to get used to the daily routine quickly and the environment in the school. I think whilst being here I’ve stepped outside of my comfort zone a lot. I try new foods that I usually wouldn’t and also try new activities even if I’m not confident, which I’m very proud of.

Kyamah Justice

My journey at Alpine School so far has been quite amazing, in the last 5 weeks I’ve gotten to know and met some great people here at the Alpine School. In this past few weeks that have passed so far I have gotten to learn so much and do things that I thought I wouldn’t have the opportunity in my life time. Having all this classes that we have here it is pretty cool because it challenges me and it show me that I’m more capable of doing so much that I think I can. The type of class that I’m talking about are questions and possibilities, decision making, meta-cognition and social awareness. Being able to have all these classes has enabled me to think in many different ways and challenged me to use my knowledge that I already have.

Paula Niyibibona