Conclusion

         After the seven day adventure, we had gained a lot of things and they can be concentrated into 3 main points:

     1) Confidence enhancement

     2) Term work is importance

     3) Learning new outdoor skills

        Here are the details of the above items.

1) Confidence enhancement:

        We can always hear that the biggest enemy in your life is yourself.  It is very true for us.  We remember that at the first day when the course commenced, the first challenge we had to face was jumping into the sea from a pier that is about 5 meter high from the sea level.  If one has never jumped from that height, he will be definitely frightened.  However, when we had tried our best to tackle the fear in our mind and took the first step to jump, we found it easier to jump when we tried it again next time. It was because we had established confidence to do this kind of activity.

        Besides, almost every one of our team had the chance to be leader in each of the 7 day.   Therefore, through this opportunity, we could learn how to communicate and how to coordinate with the others, how to make correct decision and hold discussion to express ourselves clearly. Even though you were weak in leading a group of people, you do have to try your very best to make groups of people acting like one team.  It was quite challenging to someone who seldom expresses his opinion to others. And it did increase their confidence in leadership.

2) Importance of teamwork:

         Lots of people are good at some thing.  Some people like looking star in the sky and become astronomer, others spend their whole life on number and soon become an expert of mathematics.

        If I happen to be good at playing TV games, I cannot expect everyone else to play games so good just like me.  If I play soccer very well, I must put up with the fact that other people can hardly kick a football.

        Is there no one who is good at all kind of things?  Is there no one who knows nothing?  The answer is absolutely negative.  Everyone must be good and weak at some thing at the same time.  Therefore, nobody is perfect and our ability is limited.

        However, if a lot of people join together, a so-called perfect team is formed.  It is because everyone weakness has been replaced by the strong point of the others.  That is why there are a lot of people and positions in an army but not only one man to defeat enemies.

        The main purpose of the activities provided by the OBS is to make fragments become a whole thing.  If we want to finish all the activities smoothly, we have to act like one team; We have to learn how to trust our teammates. We have to learn how to coordinate with others. We have to learn when we have to shut up our mouths and listen to the others.   All these things need time to learn. So we go to the OBS to find the quickest way to get it.

        We can remember the day when we were in the top of the challenge pole. If we did not put the trust on the others, It can be sure that there would be no one that could successfully jump from the pole and catch the iron bar.

3) Learning new outdoor skills:

        Since OBS do not expect participants to have leant all the outdoor skills, she will teach you the basic skill of all the activities and she calls it –'Hard skill.' For instance, the instructors will teach you how to drive a canoe forward or backward and how to change direction. They will also teach you how to climb up and down a hill, what is the usage of compasses and maps and so on. Besides this, some safety procedures are also included in the program of the course. These are especially important because it will affect one's life.

        Apart from learning 'Hard skill', the most essential thing that we had gained is how to be patient to listen. Whether you are familiar with the techniques of the activity or not, you do have to wait until the instructor finishes his talk.  It is because some people may not be as good as you do at this subject so you need give them a chance to keep up with you and this is so called 'Soft skill'.

         After the 7-days adventure, we had all trained to be maturer both in mental and physical but it differs one another. Some may get more but others may not. But one thing we can be sure and that is the friendship of us.  We had walked through all the difficulties together.  We had waken early in the morning together for a morning horror.  We had eaten bread with rain water together in the middle of a forest.  We had made a team song together with no one knows why we can make it.   We were tired to walk on but we had fun to support. We had lost the direction but we had our inspired compassion.

         We can be sure we will never forget this valuable and wonderful experience, even 10 years later.  May God help us to remember all this goodness and make the motto of OBS be always in our mind.

‘To Serve, To Strive and Not to Yield’