JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWS

Adam Bond

Junior Sub-School Manager

What resilience may look like at North Geelong Secondary College

In 2010 I coordinated an expedition to Vietnam and Cambodia with World Challenge with a group of 30 students for 28 nights. Some components of the trip I was really looking forward to but the hiking I was not. I have never really been much of a fan of hiking, most of the time I think it would be great to ride my dirt bike through here! I completed the hikes along with the students, it was challenging, the terrain was challenging, the humidity was challenging and the sleeping conditions were challenging. Did I enjoy the hike? Not really. What I did enjoy was the sense of achievement and what I had gained as a person for putting myself through something that I did not see as enjoyable.

Enjoyment is something that may not be instantaneous and at times the enjoyment only comes after rigour and sacrifice. In 2022 we often want things instantaneous or not at all. Enjoyment from attending school camps and excursions comes from spending time with our friends, eating junk food and having fun activities that we may not normally be able to enjoy. Camps also come with their challenges, hiking and heights that may push our limits, extended periods of time without technology, and having to spend time with people outside of our friendship groups working as teams, whether in activities or as a duty group setting up and washing dishes. Do any of these experiences negatively impact a student’s emotional well-being? I would strongly argue that it does not and rather that it assists the development of personal qualities such as resilience, empathy and communication skills. Camps and excursions are few and far between, please don’t waste the opportunity for your child to develop as a person because the enjoyment factor is not instantaneous. 

Although not necessarily at the time, hiking in Vietnam is still one of the most enjoyable experiences in my forty-something years and has given me something I would not have achieved just by sticking with day to day life.