A trip to Igatpuri, a small town and hill station in Maharashtra, West India was an eye-opening and momentous experience. It was a 3 day trip that involved adventures and a little bit of service too. It also included trekking, dam cleaning and interaction of students of a local government school. During the trip, I experienced multiple emotions, such as joy as well as fear. I felt immense joy looking over the greenery from the hilltop, or when I played games with the students from the government school. In company with joy, I also experienced fear when I was trekking, especially due to the high altitude and the steepness of the hill. Together, though, the trip helped me learn multiple things.
Learning Outcome 2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
For me, any sort of adventure is a physical and mental challenge. I often feel nervous and even fearful before embarking on any physical adventure, and when mixed with my fear of height, trekking on a hill while it rained was a paramount challenge in itself. However, since trekking was a mandatory activity in the itinerary, and I did not want to miss out on the breathtaking view of nature from the hilltop, I had to complete the trek. However, while trekking, I enjoyed the cool breeze on my face, and tried to focus on the present, to avoid the feeling of dread when I thought about the remaining trek. This challenge helped me a lot to develop and improve upon my concentration skills as I struggled to focus and complete the trek safely. Moreover, the trip also involved interacting with students from the local school. This presented a new language as being in a different state created a language barrier that made communication extremely difficult, especially due to the young age of the students. Hence, as speaking became a challenge, I started communicating through hand gestures to effectively let the students know what I meant to say. Thus, because of the challenge of the language barrier, I improved my communication skills through hand gestures.
Learning Outcome 4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
As physical activity was in itself a challenge, and there were two treks scheduled in the entire duration of the trip, divided into a short and long trek, I had to stay very committed to the trek to reach the top and come back down safely. I also wanted to complete the trek and not give up midway through the trek, as I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life. This motivated me to go on, and this commitment helped me finish both the short and long trek. I also had to persevere during the trek, which though seemed quite effortless for my peers due to their love of adventure, proved to be quite demanding for me. During the trek, as it was raining, the rocks and land became slick, and with the steep slope of the hills, along with the relatively high altitude, this again became a challenge. Therefore, to continue with the trek, I had to persevere and concentrate on one step at a time to go through the trek without any injuries or fear.
In conclusion, the trip proved to be a significant life experience that I would surely remember for years to come. Apart from the adventure, which helped me face and embrace my fears, the interaction with the students from the local school helped me reflect on how those with less materialistic resources remained content with all they had. It also made me more open-minded towards the local lifestyle and encouraged me to break free of any prejudices that I might have had towards a typical and rural lifestyle.
