Alas, I have finally participated in a PLP rite of passage… my first ever field study. 

In other words, the PLP 8’s and 9’s stayed at the Loon Lake Lodge & Retreat Centre for a week. Despite the area’s name, our teachers took to calling it a “Learning Advance”, because in their words, “we never retreat.”

I hadn’t exactly known what to expect going into this experience. The reason why my grade had not participated in a field study last year was due to the pandemic – and since we were going to be sleeping in confined quarters with other people, I was even more worried.

After months of having safety precautions and paranoia ingrained into my mindset, it was scary to go into this experience not knowing what I could do to maintain safety beyond the usual rule of mask wearing. There was not much else I could control.

Although I have experienced overnight trips away from home before, they hadn’t exactly gone well. During outdoor school in 2019, I did not have the best experience, and I was worried this field study would be similar. Thankfully, I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would!

📚 Learning Advance eBook

Throughout the course of the trip, we were forced encouraged to create an eBook to document our time. At first, I thought that it sounded like a painfully boring and time consuming assignment. 

I wasn’t wrong about it being time consuming, though I did end up enjoying it more than previously anticipated. 

It was nice to wind down at the end of each day, and complete the given prompts. I wish I could say that I worked on it diligently to take initiative of my own learning and be proactive, though realistically I was just terrified of the consequences if I did not complete it in a timely manner.

I won’t be going in depth regarding all the activities we took part in during the field study in this blog post, so be sure to check out the book if you’re interested!

🌩 Thunder Inn

I shared a cabin with my friends, Alfie, Ava, Fraser, Sabrina, and Teva. It was nice to get to know them more during this time, since although I know Sabrina and Ava quite well, I can’t exactly say the same for the others.

I would like to blame the fact that I only met Alfie, Fraser, and Teva last year… but I’m honestly a social hermit and actively seeking out people for the purpose of engaging in conversation is difficult for me. It was nice to let myself relax and interact around others.

📷 Photography Walk & Other Fun!

Various entertaining activities were organized for us to partake in; something I’m very appreciative of! These include Wild & Immersive, Stellar Play, and a photography walk. I enjoyed the photography walk the most, since it was one of the few opportunities we got to freely explore the forestry. Despite living around forests for my entire life, I still find them absolutely mesmerizing.

🌱 Personal Growth

I do feel as if I became more outgoing during this learning advance, despite the fact I didn’t participate much in conversation during mealtimes. It was nice talking to fellow learners I don’t usually talk to. Because of such, I am quite proud of the progress I have made on my “Communicating” competency. Looking back on these past few months, it’s surreal to think about how I’m no longer scared of approaching teachers or greeting others. I think a lot of that anxiety stems from having bad past experiences with teachers from elementary school, so I’m particularly proud of myself for coming this far!

Additionally, I enjoyed taking learning outside of the typical classroom environment. I am the type of learner who struggles focusing on my work at times, especially during the last hour of school. The fact that our schedule was quite different to what I am used to, with many breaks in between, helped me collaborate with my peers and focus on my work during different learning activities.

I look forward to further practicing my competencies and growing as a learner during future field studies!