I still can’t exactly wrap my head around the fact that I’ve managed to let a group of randomly selected people get so close to my heart in such a short vicinity of time. Currently, I am of the opinion that the three days we spent at Jesenice near Rakovník truly built a strong foundation that will support a good class spirit for the years to come. A contrast that I find truly wonderful were our reserved behaviours during the first day of school, when we all kept to ourselves and merely eyed our new classmates, to our riveting conversations in front of the school (before we even partook in any bonding activities!) while we anticipated the arrival of the bus (and our teacher) that would transport us to this wonderful recreational cottage resort.
Upon arrival, we were tasked with creating groups of six students for our cabins. By this point, many of us still weren’t completely warmed up to our class, and because all the faces of our peers simply resembled nothing but a group of strangers, many of us simply stuck with the first person that asked us to join them. The initial feelings of coyness, however, were quickly suppressed by the daily activities. We began by games that helped us break our personal barriers, both social and physical ones. Though it felt a bit uncomfortable at times, it truly helped us shake off the uneasiness among us to the point when just talking outside of the mandatory activities finally stopped feeling as if spending time with our peers was forced - it just felt so natural and actually pleasing to chat with them. Even when it came to a time when we all sat down around a fire pit and talked about our fears and expectations, we were all eagerly sharing the pieces of our minds and happily listened to what the others had to say.
Maybe it was just some sort of a lingering feeling that pushed me to open up to my class, maybe it was just the fact that we all had such wonderful chemistry together, maybe it was just the amount of time we spent together, but whatever it was, this adaptive course truly made me feel like I’m a meaningful part of our tiny community. I can tell that I’ll truly be looking fondly at all of our days and activities, regardless of whether it was a physical activity, strengthening our ability to cooperate, a social activity, allowing us to express ourselves and get to know our classmates, or just a simple topography game, reminding us that many of us simply have a poor sense of orientation, or a night game, spewing both fear and trivia questions onto us. Let us also remember the activities that made many of us reveal some of our hidden talents, for example, some people truly have a way with air guns, as we were shown at a shooting range (I’m not exactly positive that’s for the best...). Many of us also shone in a poetic light when given the task of composing a poem consisting of 10 random words given to us by our teachers. But our last afternoon, spent by learning the basics of first aid, made it really clear that the next generation will have one hell of a „capable“ medical staff…
All in all, I’m so thankful to have attended this course, as it’s truly a lovely way to start our four year journey of knowledge and self-growth, and even though I know it will be filled with more hardships than I’ll ever be able to count, I’m not afraid to dive deep into it, knowing I’ll have a trusty crew to support me. I would also like to give an honest „thank you“ to the staff of teachers that organized this course and made it possible for us to attend. To finish this off - if there are any first-years reading this and still contemplating attending the adaptive course with their new class, do yourself a favour and just do it. It’s worth it - trust me.
Tereza Šavlová, 1. A
