I wasn’t sure what to expect as I stepped out of the car onto the Loon Lake grounds… I didn’t know what I’d learn, who I’d meet, or that I’d leave a completely different person than I was before. 

I’m not completely sure how to describe the trip. I don’t remember everything, but I can recall the eye opening moments that impacted me and my class. Let me begin by explaining the purpose of our retreat. It was meant to give us a new perspective on the people around us, as well as ourselves. We were meant to gain leadership skills and bond as a class, and understand that our actions have impacts. We know that these are all important skills to have within school, but we were also asked to think about how we can apply these skills to our everyday lives. 

The one directing our activities was a man named Jono, who had years of experience teaching those of all ages to have a different perspective on many aspects of life. Jono himself was a very interesting guy with a lot of stories. Even though some of the activities may have made me very uncomfortable, Jono liked to say “get comfortable with the uncomfortable,” which is a controversial but important notion. After all, our trip was all about growth, which sometimes takes a leap of faith to accomplish. 

I believe that the activity that I grew the most with was the trust fall. We had been practicing trusting our classmates for the entire retreat, and it was finally time to put this trust to the test. For this activity, we had to climb on top of a chair that was on top of a table, close our eyes, and fall.

 I’ll admit that I even surprised myself when I confidently climbed up onto the chair. In that moment, I pushed my fear aside, which sparked something new inside me. However, by the time I was on top of the chair, I was genuinely shaking with fear. I just closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and fell. In the moment before my classmates caught me, I felt like I was never going to stop falling, and I screamed “oh my god!” I let my form go and hit someone into the face (sorry Neko), and felt terrible immediately after. She was okay (thank goodness), and I had gained a new experience. In the end, the ordeal was a good thing?

We did a lot of different exercises to build trust, and although I’m not going to to go super into depth about all of them, I will give a brief explanation of the activities we did. There was a rock climbing wall, on which we all cheered each other on. We did a low ropes course on which we had to work as a team to solve challenges, and we all bonded from it. The high ropes course was fun, and the milk crate stacking challenge took strategy and teamwork to achieve. The orienteering challenge took brainpower and stamina, and my teammates made it really fun. The fort building took teamwork and logic, as well as determination. Finally, all of Johno’s sessions took mental preparation and strength to accomplish. I believe that all of these activities have shaped me and my classmates for the better. 

In the end, this trip was a lot of fun because I got to experience it with my friends. The teachers and staff were very supportive, as well as all of our classmates. We got to wrap up our trip with an awesome dance party, where we could let all of our troubles go. I also feel like I have to include this, or the PLP teachers will be mad: The food was amazing. 

As I got back into the car and headed home, I reflected on my Loon Lake experience, and just how much I’d learned about my classmates and myself. Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day!