As our bus pulled up in front of the Adventure Camp in Borneo, Malaysia, the reaction from the Year 12s ranged from terror, excitement and shock, to glee. Starting from that very first day, challenges were thrown in our faces, such as having to battle with invasive insects, share public bathrooms, trek for hours, get accustomed to the tropical weather, the list goes on. The entire year had to learn to adapt quickly and work to support each other.
Speaking on behalf of the year, when looking back we all did something out of our comfort zone and did something we had never dreamt of doing. These experiences turned out to be pretty fun for most of us, and it allowed us make new friendships and grow closer with pre-existing ones. We got to experience so many unique opportunities such as planting a thousand and sixty trees, helping the Sun Bear conservation centre, a twenty-four-hour trek, stunning morning and evening boat rides, setting up hammocks, and so on.
The Service team and Biology and ESS students separated at Sandakan. As the service team helped at the Sun Bear conservation centre, Orang-Utan rehabilitation centre, and the Rainforest Discovery Centre, the Biology and ESS students were given the opportunity to map out uncharted caves, set up camera traps, observe wildlife, and so on. When the Biology and ESS students reunited with the Service team at Mescot Village, it was an entertaining sight, seeing all of us embrace one another as if we just returned from a long war. Additionally, getting to know the AE staff made these experiences twice as fun and many new memories were created with them.
Before hearing about this trip, most of the students would have never dreamt of doing all these activities and meeting all these people, so this was truly an eye-opening thirteen days that we will not easily forget.
Emily Tan – Y12C