This year I was lucky enough to attend Outward Bound on a mind, body and soul course. While these courses are expensive I was fortunate to receive a scholarship from the Otago Community Trust, as well as funding from the Lions group, and from helping out our community. 

My course had been postponed due to COVID-19, but I finally went at the end of September. It was an amazing experience that helped teach me resilience and other useful skills, as well as making a lot of self-discoveries. The other 13 people in my group and I quickly became a close knit whanau with a love for peanut butter sandwiches, we actually got given a tub of peanut butter that was meant to last the whole 3 weeks, but was finished within the first week. We did lots of physical activity which helped everyone to get fitter and more often than not push some people out of their comfort zones like coasteering, and being out of your comfort zone can turn out to be better than you thought. We did lots of exciting activities like sailing, camping, and team bonding activities. 

Within the course there is a lot of enjoyable mahi (work), and lots of aroha (love) towards everyone. If anyone is interested in taking an outward bound course, I would support them 100% because Outward Bound really is a positively life changing experience.

Lauren Grant, Year 12

For more information about Outward Bound courses, see here: www.outwardbound.co.nz