Trips & Expeditions
By: Napat G8
D
uring Week Without Walls (WWW), my most enjoyable moment was the second teambuilding activity, the Black Mountain water obstacle course. The course was very challenging for people who are not used to swinging around on ropes, balancing on wet ground, climbing structures, and jumping on floating islands. In the team-building activity, we had to use our teamwork skills in order to help people in our group get across each obstacle, and to help each other when we were stuck or trying to get back on the floats and out of the water. On the lake, everyone got wet and completed the challenges with positive and extremely happy attitudes.
Even if we all had parts of WWW that we did not like as much as other parts, the trip was fun and challenging, and helped us to discover more about our classmates and ourselves. I learnt that everything we do offers a lesson to learn: from uncovering an undiscovered skill, to learning about a new side of our personality. Every WWW is a new experience because the responses of each person to the trip are different. Each of these special WWW experiences help to further our discoveries of finding our true potential, and help us to learn that we have more to offer than we ever thought before.
Other than participating in challenges and things we never thought we could do, everybody also got closer due to our lack of technology. Instead of sitting on our phones listening to music or playing games, we communicated with each other. We played card games and did physical activities to keep us entertained and busy. We also got closer to the teachers and the staff because we got to enjoy all of our activities together.
23 CONCORDIAN
Trips & Expeditions
24 CONCORDIAN
Trips & Expeditions
By: Min G8Y During Week Without Walls (WWW), every place that I went gave me new knowledge and experiences. The place that affected me the most, changed my mind about the importance of education, and made me more compassionate and empathetic was Wang Klai Kang Wan School. This school was created by the King of Thailand, and helps people to get an education by allowing them to go to school for free. When I arrived at Wang Klai Kang Wan School, I saw three big buildings inside the school’s gate. When I walked inside the school, I received a warm welcome from Thai students who wore uniforms and hair that was tied back neatly. The students waied and invited us to sit down while the school’s principal gave a presentation. During the presentation, I recorded any important information that I wanted to remember. Wang Klai Kang Wan is the first school in Thailand to have distance learning television (DLTV). DLTV was created by the King to give equal opportunity education to every kid around Thailand; there are many kids without learning standards, teachers, and effective ways to learn, especially in remote areas of the country. DLTV, therefore, provides students with standard lessons and education. The lessons broadcasted from Wang Klai Kang Wan School reaches over 30,000 small schools in different districts within Thailand, and are shown over 15 channels, 24 hours a day. In addition to the broadcasts, students can also learn their lessons through an application on their phone or on the school’s website.
After hearing what the King is doing with DLTV in schools, I reflected back on how lucky I am to have a great education and convenient education at a school like Concordian International School. We have teachers who always support and encourage us to be better people. The students who are receiving an education through DLTV may live in hard conditions and have less choice about how they receive their education, but they still try their best to learn.
CONCORDIAN
The values that I learned and gained from this experience are compassion and empathy. The things that the King has done for over 30,000 schools shows how he empathizes with students, and how he sees that, at a young age, students need to be educated. The King shows his compassion by creating this project, and shows me that he does not want to simply help schools to survive, but wants to also help kids in the outer parts of Thailand to have a better future. Compassion and empathy might not be the most important values, but they are values that everyone needs to practice in order to make big changes to the country 25 and the world. These values must be learned and practiced, otherwise this world will not be peaceful, we will not understand each other, and we will not do anything to benefit others.