One of the classes I teach at Plainfield North High School is called Adventure Challenge. In this class students learn through doing…meaning I expose them to 6 principles through teambuilding activities. These principles are: leadership, problem-solving, cooperation, communication, risk, and trust. As students engage in various teambuilding activities they learn how to work with others and grow in each of the 6 principles. Throughout the semester I continually ask students to consider how the class relates to life – known as “RTL”. This gives students insight into why this class is so valuable for both their current life and their future – college and career.
I could not help but consider how my trekking through Nepal this past month required ALL of the principles from this class. So here you have my RTL’s from my Nepal trekking:
Our team on the first day of our trek!
Leadership:
For many on my team our Nepal trek was a first….meaning not many knew what they needed or how to be prepared. Our team leader Taylor stepped up to find out the needed information. She organized a meeting to discuss what we needed to get, find out how everyone was feeling and then put a plan together to get us ready. She freed up our day so we could get groceries at the trekking store, buy last minute clothing and hygiene items (like toilet paper) and then prepare our packs (shedding items that were not needed like tank tops, shorts, books, computer, etc.). Without her leadership, we would have been unorganized and frantic and definitely not prepared!
Problem-solving:
On one of our treks we had hiked down one side of the mountain to be welcomed by a beautiful creek, which we needed to cross to go up the other side.
We stopped to take a rest, swim, and eat a snack. One of our team members was hiking on the rocks and ended up losing her footing, slipped down the rock, hit her head and lost her glasses. In this moment our team had to spring into action….I went directly to my teammate to assist her after the fall, others jumped into the water to find her glasses, which were her only pair, others went ahead to grab the med kit. Thankfully her glasses were found and with them on she was able to return to our stuff in order be treated with the med kit.
Now the question was would she be able to make it the rest of the uphill hike to the village considering she probably had a concussion . . . the option we were left with was hike back to where we just came from, also uphill about 45 minutes to get treatment there. After cleaning her head wound and giving her some salty food and rest, she decided she would be able to make it up the hour hike to the village. And she did just that. We had support people in front and behind her and another teammate volunteered to carry her pack. Looking back on this incident it was evident that everyone had a part to play and teamwork helped in moving our group to our destination despite the injury.
Cooperation:
There were several moments along our trek in which we had to work together….the example I gave above of our teammate’s injury is a clear example of the necessity of cooperation. Each teammate stepped up to help out and work together by listening and responding with action to the needs.
Another time would be when we were preparing food for the group….a couple teammates took it upon themselves to buy the noodles and veggies. They brought it back and two other teammates helped prepared and cooked it….then another teammate prepared the dishes and served the food. After we eat, others in the group stepped up to clean the dishes. Talk about a well-oiled machine! People saw the needs and wanted to serve other people so all could enjoy dinner!
Communication:
I can’t think of a more important aspect of our trek than communication – or lack of! We had several moments of miscommunication on our trip, some of which were ill received by our team. One such moment was when our guide told us the trek would last about 3-4 hours but ended up taking 8! We weren’t quite as prepared physically (with food and water) or mentally prepared for such a long hike…in the end we did stop for a meal but we didn’t end up arriving to our destination until after dark! We had a good time trekking in the dark but it was quite unexpected and we all had to check our attitudes and let go of our expectations!
Risk:
While I hope my mom doesn’t read this (ha!) I have to admit a risky move I took while traveling back to our village…the bus was overcrowded and I was cramped up in the front. So at one of our stops, I hopped off and climbed up to the top of the bus with a few of my teammates. For the next 45 minutes I experienced the thrill of a roller coaster (minus the safety) as the bus drove along a narrow mountain road containing steep edges, bumps, cows, goats, shepherds and an occasional motorcyclist. It was quite the experience and quite the view! While we weren’t entirely secured on the rooftop, we did make it safely to our destination with only dust in our eyes and faces to show for it!
Trust:
As you may recall from my first blog in Nepal my team and I set out to complete a “No shave (and at times shower) Nepal”. That’s right, my team and I didn’t shave until the last week of February, post-trek. We also didn’t shower but once or twice and that was with a bucket and usually just for the hair (as it was way too cold for full body!) So I bring this up because to complete this type of task shows one’s trust in their team….to know they will be accepted for being hairy and smelly and still embrace you as a teammate! And to trust that my teammates were also going to let their hair grow and accept the smelliness gave me confidence to do the same!
Hiking shot of team (And of course what the picture can’t reveal is how bad we smelled!!!)
What a trip this was!!! I hope it is clear just how important these principles are to success not just with trekking but in life too!
We made it! Our team on the last day of our trek!
And on a side note…I do plan on coming back to Nepal to complete another trekking trip to either Everest base camp or around the Annapurna mountains
Fishtail Mountain in Pokhara (Annapurna range)
Either way my short trekking trip has prepared me SO WELL for an actually trekking trip of longer length and more difficulty. Which brings me to conclude this blog with my another very important life lesson to be learned: In life we must….
LIVE AND LEARN!!!
Lauren
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