Boarding 

Boarders to Go to Borneo

Anna Spaull, Zoe Rudge, Chloe Russell, Annabel Hetherington, and Grace Austin are five Year 10 boarders who are attending The World Challenge trip to Borneo this week.

Our Year 10 students have amazing opportunities, one of which is The Borneo Trip, where out of the 8 young leaders attending, 5 are boarders. I was fortunate enough to sit down with two of them this week to hear about this exciting experience.

The World Challenge trip is a student-run trip where students volunteer, contribute and broaden their cultural horizons. Departing on Friday for 30 days, these young leaders will be hiking throughout the mountains and rain forests, white-water rafting, and zip lining, but, it’s not all about adventurers in the wild. Grace and Annabel amongst others have invested 2 years of planning time, which includes fund raising for their own trip and also for a new orangutan and sun-bear enclosure. They have been meeting with the team and their teachers organising their itinerary and planning out meals and packing their gear. As part of travelling to Malaysia they have had to undergo a series of immunisations, and familiarise themselves about the dangers of travelling into the wild.

For Grace the most exciting aspects of this trip is going to be the hike up Mount Kinabulu which is almost 3000m’s in height, and contributing to the building of the sun-bear enclosure. This section of the trip is designed to challenge the team dynamics as well as place a significant personal adversity ahead of her. Whilst for Annabel, she is looking forward to the cultural experience, the community, and the volunteer work.

Budgeting, organising time, and following their itinerary are the challenges the girls believe they are about to face. Although this is an exciting and adventurous time for the girls, they are willing to seek out these challenges and face them head on. As boarders, Grace and Annabel both believe boarding school has allowed them to become more independent, self-reliant, and capable of dealing with and ups and downs that friendships can bring.

“I think it will be challenging but rewarding. Not only will I have a different perspective on my lifestyle from this challenge, but I’ll develop a sense of gratitude and greater awareness of the importance of taking care of the environment.” Grace Austin.

“This is a new and unique opportunity. This experience is on my door step at the moment, and I think this will really change me. I think this will allow me to understand how lucky we are, to become grateful for what I have, and experience a sense of risk taking that is healthy. I’m nervous because there are unknowns but I am excited because I feel that I need to do this”. Annabel Hetherington.

We wish Grace, Annabel, Chloe Russell (boarder), Anna Spaull (boarder), Zoe Rudge (boarder), Cassidy Beal, Mitzi Adamson, and Jedah Huf all the very best in their weeks ahead as they traverse the world and experience The World Challenge adventure.

Andrew Monk