Classes are up and running and I couldn’t be happier that I am enrolled in Learning in Outdoor
Education .. or so I thought. Recently, on March 24th I had my first class trip to the Royal National Park. The trip was supposed to be a five hour bush walk or in English, a hike, but it turned out to be so much more than that!
The coach buses picked my class up at approximately 9 AM and we headed off south for about an hour and a half. The park was gorgeous! After splitting up into our groups we started the hike. Five hours to go. I walked and walked and walked some more. The scenery was absolutely incredible and pictures definitely do not do it justice. Even though I was feeling like a Popsicle on a summer day, it didn’t matter.
After three hours of walking we arrived to the Marly beaches and sat down to enjoy our lunches while watching the beautiful waves dance and hearing the ocean speak. I was told by my professor to find a spot that spoke to me and to go record a self reflection. I looked around and found the rock that Ariel, The Little Mermaid, stood on. I immediately ran to it and propped myself up on top. I was feeling like a mermaid.
All was well till I started walking back and tripped on a gigantic rock. My ankle did a weird bendy thing and before I knew it, I was on the ground. I remember what I felt exactly at that moment, “Wow, I’m going to be the girl that they use as an example in class.” I did not want to be that person. My professor asked if I could walk on it and I could thanks to adrenaline. No getting airlifted out of the park for me!
The final hour I limped back with my swollen ankle. I was feeling good till I got to the bus and had to sit down for an hour and a half. Since I wouldn’t be able to elevate my foot all of the blood rushed to it and I had to hop my way out of the bus. The 20 ft walk back to my apartment felt like and eternity and hurt terribly. All I could think was, why do bad things happen to good people? I did not know.
Three trips to the doctors office and an x-ray later, I can still hear the voice of my professor in the back of my brain. “Thank’s for soldering!”
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Inci Askin
<p><span style="color: rgb(29, 29, 29); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(237, 237, 237);">Hi all, I'm Inci and I'm a Junior at The Pennsylvania State University otherwise known as Penn State. I'm majoring in International Communication and double minoring in International Studies and Sociology. I was born in Istanbul, Turkey but grew up in New Jersey. Yes, I am bilingual. No, I do not have an accent (I wish). I'm going to be tackling Sydney, Australia head on and I couldn't be more excited! Beautiful beaches, kangaroos, and accents, Australia is my dream come true.</span></p>
