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OUTWARD BOUND, ANAKIWA<br />
“Mind, Body and Soul” Course<br />
Talk in assembly by Sophie Hutchison in Year 13 who was the <strong>Columba</strong> recipient of a<br />
Community Trust of Otago Scholarship to do a Mind, Body and Soul course at Outward Bound<br />
in January, <strong>2009</strong>.<br />
What lies beneath us…. and what lies before us…. are tiny matters…. compared to what lies within us.<br />
These wise words from Ralph Waldo Emerson describe the realisation that Outward Bound unravelled<br />
for me. Spending 21 days away from the world you have grown accustomed to sounds hard, but<br />
having 13 strangers each with their own history to share the experience with, is a once in a life-time<br />
opportunity.<br />
Mind, Body and Soul is a course designed to discover what is important to you, and to grasp a sense<br />
of your future potential.<br />
A typical day at Outward Bound involves getting-up at around 5.30 a.m., jumping into your P.T gear,<br />
progressing to the P.T. area and starting your morning exercises. Now these exercises include sets of<br />
press-ups, sit-ups, squats - you name it, we did it. After around 30 minutes of these sometimes<br />
gruelling exercises we jogged to the startline for the morning run. For three weeks you have a race<br />
against yourself, approximately 3.2 kilometres, and by the end you jump into the sea for your morning<br />
swim.<br />
My 13 other watch members and myself went on some incredible adventures. From tipping upside<br />
down in a kayak in the white water of a small waterfall to being told to tramp up a ridiculous mountain<br />
at 12 a.m. and then dropped off by yourself into the bush and left for two and half days. What more<br />
could you ask for Well, after completing a five day tramping adventure with 15 hour tramping days<br />
you come to the top of an isolated mountain where all you can see is the Marlborough Sounds…. you<br />
get to finally feel that moment of satisfaction.<br />
Other schemes that we went on included rock climbing, completing a high ropes course that turned<br />
out to be the hardest challenge for me as I am afraid of heights. We also went sailing on an old style<br />
rescue boat called a Cutter and completed many other team building and self-reflection exercises.<br />
I am sure you have all heard about Solo. Dreaded by some, but to me by the time we were dropped<br />
off in the bush away from all parts of civilisation, I couldn’t wait to get to sleep. I was physically<br />
exhausted from the ongoing physical endurance we experienced every day with no down time. All I<br />
came out of Solo with was a nasty spider bite.<br />
I made some really good friends on my time on Outward Bound. I learnt how to live with people that I<br />
usually do not associate with or necessarily come across in my everyday life. One member of my<br />
watch called …, was someone who was different in numerous ways and had had a hard life. He was<br />
actually sent home after a week because he was mentally unstable and the instructors had to spend<br />
too much time on helping him and not paying enough attention to the rest of the team. It was sad to<br />
see him go. But it was said that our lives were in danger and in the history of Outward Bound 26<br />
people have died so there is no room for error on their behalf. What I learnt from having … in my<br />
watch was that some people did not show him the respect he deserved on his time on Outward<br />
Bound. After his departure numerous members of my group had to write letters to him as they felt<br />
guilty about not giving him a chance just because he was a bit slower than the majority. It was good to<br />
know that I had given him the respect he deserved. I come across many different people in my lifestyle<br />
and I have learnt you have to show respect to everyone no matter how different they may appear.<br />
The opportunity to do a Mind, Body and Soul course at Outward Bound is an opportunity to take with<br />
both hands. I will probably never have an experience of this level again in my life. The people that I<br />
meet, the values that I learned are going to go with me in my future. I say to you all now, this is a<br />
course that I believe the majority of you should you do at some point or another. You will come out of<br />
it with a better attitude, new skills and maybe even discover aspects of yourself you did not know<br />
before.<br />
Finally a quote from Martin Luther King:<br />
“The ultimate measure of man is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but<br />
where they stand at times of challenge and controversy.”<br />
Sophie Hutchison
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