Friday, Aug 21, 2009, Day 6,
This morning began differently than any morning we had had so far. This was due to our waking time being moved up to around 5:30 a.m. People adjusted to this without any noticeable differences. We ate breakfast at 6:00 a.m. to get the day started promptly so we would have more time to do our canoe training at Spring Lake and still be able to accomplish the many other things the ECOEE program has set in front of us.
“If you always do what you’ve always done you’ll always be what you’ve always been.”
Nearly immediately after breakfast we traveled to Spring Lake to learn about canoes and how they work. Jeff went over the nomenclature for both the canoe itself as well as the paddle. He then went on to demonstrate the different strokes involved in moving the canoe how you want it. After these lessons it was time to put our new found knowledge into action. We practiced every stroke and finished with an invigorating paddle session in the rain in the form of follow the leader. In the middle of our paddling practice we paused briefly for lunch in which the quote was “Pressure is nothing more than a shadow of a great opportunity,” said by Michael Johnson.
We soon finished our time at Spring Lake and did some splitting up as some of us did work around campus, some of us did work at Horn Field and I myself went to Hyvee for some items with Christine.
Eventually we had a spectacular dinner which was beef stroganoff, grape salad and peach cobbler. I ate a little of everything as I found it enjoyable. Then we finally got a lot of outdoor education and interpretation topics done and learned about the hazards that go along with expeditions.
During the debrief people talked about how we were going to keep the motivation of the trip going and work hard to get a lot done tomorrow. I for one and am anticipating the potential recharge time on Sunday if we all work for it.
“I’ve never believed anyone could put more pressure on myself than I can. People may expect great things from you but you have to expect great things from yourself.”-Steve McNair.
By Shane Johnson