EDUCATION FEATURE
Keep Your Eyes T
"Keep going, but don't look down. Look straight ahead
he event was the Alberta Conference ninth grade Outdoor Education trip near Nordegg. At the time, I was teaching ninth grade, so I found myself privileged to be attending this annual event alongside my students who were thrilled about tenting, sleeping on the ground, outhouses, and feasting on Ichiban noodles for three days. I, on the other hand… well, let's just say I must have really loved my students because the accommodations and meal plan weren't exactly my idea of luxury. However, I was excited to be there and share in the experiences that this event afforded. Along with numerous
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Alberta Adventist News
other daily activities, rock rappelling was a popular activity in which all the program attendees were encouraged to participate, including teachers. Not wanting to show my age or fear and being driven by proving to my students I could keep up with them, I agreed to rappel. “Rappelling is the most dangerous — and frightening — part of climbing… Rappelling uses friction for a controlled descent. The most common way to rappel is to thread the rope through a specialized belay/rappel device attached to your harness with a locking carabiner.” Did I mention I really loved my students?
MARCH 2021
To make a long story short, it came to my turn to step over the edge of a rock cliff, my life depending on a rope tied with one knot to a tree. The first mistake I made was to look down to see how far the ground was below me. Panic set in. I felt I couldn’t let myself go down even one inch further, but I was already on the rock face, so I couldn't go back up either. My students were at the top, cheering me on, shouting words of encouragement. Through the noise of the applause, one voice seemed to rise above the others: “Keep going, but don't look down. Look straight ahead and keep your eyes on the rock in front of you!”
