Trekking is something very close to my heart. I love the peace and mesmerizing beauty of the exotic trekking locations. That is why, the moment I saw the 2-day trek trip, I could not help but click to register for the same. In this 2-day trek, we were taken to Igatpuri, maharashtra. It’s a hill station located in the Western Ghats of India.

The goal of this trip was to overcome many of my fears, come out of my comfort zone and challenge myself physically. It was physically challenging because we had to trek for hours with undesirable weather conditions. We had a lot on our bucket list to be completed. On the first day, at about evening, we did a plethora of adventurous activities such as zip lining and rope cycling. We also trekked on the hills of the Western Ghats along with playing cards, antakshari and having a lot of fun. We also did dam cleaning and interacting with local school children.

LO 1- identify own strengths and Weaknesses
During the trek, I was able to identify my own strengths and weaknesses. I got to know that I was good at trekking, and a small 2 hours of trekking was not much of a pain to my legs. However, I realized that I was not good when it comes to socializing. I was not able to talk to people on the trip easily. I worked upon it by trying to engage with everyone while playing antakshari and cards, after which I was able to talk to them. At the end, I did feel good to become more self-aware regarding my strengths and weaknesses, thus working on becoming better day by day.

LO 2-Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
The trek threw a lot of challenges at me. Though trekking does not cause me much leg pain, facing the extreme weather conditions was difficult. It was raining heavily, causing the trekking route to become filled with mud and slippery, making it physically difficult for me to trek. I overcame this by taking support of a few rocks around the route. I also caught a fever due to the rain, which was a big challenge for me. I tried not to focus on the fever and body ache and rather distract myself to the beauty and greenery of the Western ghats, especially after the rains. In addition, talking to people was always a big challenge for me. I was never able to socialize with my peers, however on this trip, I not only played a lot of games, I talked to a lot of them, made a lot of friends and gathered a plethora of life-long memories. Also, I faced a challenge while interacting with the local school students as they were only able to converse in Marathi and I am unfamiliar with the same. For this, we took help of their teachers, who knew hindi and marathi both, in order to translate our conversations and interact with the children. So all in all, I developed my trekking skills, my social skills and my problem solving skills

LO 4- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
Along with several challenges discussed above, I also showcased commitment and persevence as I came out of my comfort zone. I came out of my comfort zone to live in the village, with less facilities compared to the city and no electronic devices. Initially, it was a bit difficult for me to adjust there, but gradually as I appreciated the things around me, I was able to enjoy those conditions and persevere through the trek. As in the trek was physically challenging, especially due to the weather condtitions, yet persevering throughout the trek being committed to reach the hill’s top. Initially it was a bit difficult for me to accomplish this goal, but as I had strong determination to complete it, the process did not feel as difficult as I thought it to be.

LO 5- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
During the trek, there were instances where we had to help each other (peers) to cross some locations such as the giant rocks and river, where working collaboratively helped us to trekk successfully. Also we recognized the benefits of working collaboratively while interacting with the local school students. Because while working collaboratively, we were able to come up with various activities and games we could play with the children, we were successfully able to communicate with a large number of students and play games with them. Also working collaboratively, helped us to clean the dam faster as we distributed areas to be cleaned.

LO 6- Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
During the trip, we went on dam cleaning. Cleanliness and clean water sanitation is a serious issue as dirty water harms marine species like fishes and pollutes the water.

Learner Profiles:
Courageous
Through this 2-day trek, I demonstrated the learner profile, courageous. This is because I knew the trek would throw a lot of challenges on me, including the trek difficulty, weather conditions and coming out of my comfort zone.
Open mindedness and caring
Because I was open-minded to interact and play with the local underprivileged students in the government school and are for them (through playing).