Hello everyone!
The much awaited
reflections of the TransCanada group has begun! Each essay is split into
two-parts: one written through-out the expedition, and one written at
the end of the trip.
Each week features a different theme. Be sure to share your thoughts and stories!
COURAGE - pt.1
by Jennifer, Kendra & Owen
Courage differs from fearlessness in that ultimately, it is more
heroic. Courage is not an absence of fear, but the conquering of that
fear. If you let fear conquer you, that is cowardice. In this past week,
our call sign “Courage” has been demonstrated, or in some cases
averted, by those participating in the TransCanada Arctic Expedition.
This TransCanada Arctic Expedition is a very tough experience and a
challenge, especially since there are so many younger students this
time. It took a lot of courage to join this program in the first place.
People have adjusted fairly well to the schedules and such, but it was
in no way an easy task to accomplish. Every day, the students are
challenged in many different ways, including this
now-seemingly-impossible 1500 word essay that we are all rushing to
finish, and a road map from Edmonton, Alberta to Watson Lake, Yukon,
that took a lot of coordination to map out (pun so not intended).
Courage can be seen in small, personal sacrifices. Mike sharing his
spending money with Marco after Marco lost his wallet, co-drivers having
long conversations with their drivers to keep them company on the long
hauls even as their eyelids threaten to close, Team Captains willing to
take risks and push on ahead and cover longer distances and the drivers
willing to accommodate, making sure your teammates are fed before
yourself, willing to eat a little less and sleep a little less to ensure
that we all can have at least a little, and sitting sentry all night
just to make your tent-mates feel safe at night. These little things
speak much in terms of courage because they were done genuinely and
candidly. None of these things were done because of any sort of ulterior
motive, but simply because it took a bit of gutsiness and a good heart,
and that is what courage is about.
I’ve seen courage in
students from overseas whose first language is not English strive to
improve their capabilities by speaking it with the others. It is often
awkward and frustrating to communicate in a language that is so
different from your vernacular, but these students have expanded on
their knowledge of the language as well as learned to communicate in
other ways including body language such as Kathy has done.
Courage can involve speaking the truth; as Billy said: “Speak the truth
always, even if it leads to your death.” Michael Fung demonstrated
courage by admitting that he knew very little about the set-up of the
tents. By admitting this fact, he was able to learn the techniques with
an open mind.
Courage is overcoming your fears. At the West
Edmonton Mall, Marco was hesitant to join the others in ice-skating. The
reason was that on a school trip a few years back, his hand had been
cut by someone’s skate and he was very hesitant to try again. However,
after much persuasion from his friends, he decided to rent a pair of
skates and step out onto the ice. It was pretty rough at the beginning
with many slips and falls and wild flailing, but Marco managed to keep
moving by sticking to the walls of the rink. As the day went on, he
began to move away from the wall and became proficient enough to even
play a game of tag on ice with the more experienced skaters on the ice.
Courage to take action is one thing, but the courage to take
responsibility is also just as important. Courage to accept
responsibility is part of overcoming your fears, specifically a fear of
consequence. The incident with the trailer would be a good example. It
was the responsibility of everyone on Bravo vehicle to watch out for the
trailer and to know that parking always takes much concentration on the
drivers’ part. Though outwardly, it would be easy to say that it was
due to driver error, it was a joint responsibility of everyone on that
vehicle, which not everybody seemed to feel.
On Day 8 of
travelling, there was a potentially dangerous situation with a drunken
motorcyclist. Sleep did not come easy on that night. Every clatter of
gravel, far-off shout, flash of headlight, and engine backfire hid some
sort of danger. Some of us slept on edge that night, and some of us
didn’t sleep at all. We reviewed emergency procedures and we were
prepared for a potential situation, but it didn’t stop us from being at
least a little bit nervous. In the middle of the night, when some of us
needed to use the washroom, it took a lot of courage to organize a party
to leave the safe haven of the tent.
Also during this
incident, by accident the sprinter car alarm was set off. Students were
scared but had the courage to stay calm and continue sleeping. Everyone
kept a close eye out and planned lots of things ahead because of all the
different scenarios that could happen. We all decided on a password to
let each other know that we’re part of the group and was alert at all
times. Everyone must’ve had a lot of courage to pass that night.
Courage is also having the ability to try new things out. This was
demonstrated in many cases throughout the first few days of the
Trans-Canada West Artic Expedition. Just like on day 7, students were
all willing to try and sleep outside in a parking lot if it meant that
we could push on ahead early the next morning. It was a courageous act
in that no one was fully comfortable but students were willing to give
up a little comfort to be able to reach our destination—the Arctic—a
little sooner. The parking lot was an open area, so we were exposed to
the elements, but also to other unknown and potential dangers, but we
carried on even so.
Courageousness is a trait of a good leader. A
leader steps up when no one else does, and an ideal example of this is
someone who gets the job done when others are too afraid to. A simple
case of this is: bugs. While the rest of the students shrieked and
scurried away, Mireille calmly squashed the bug with a tissue. The same
thing with Grace, who overcame her dislike of bugs to swiftly brush a
few large spiders off of our tents while we were taking them down.
Courage is found in small things as well as the grander things; even in
things as seemingly simple as mealtimes. In some instances, the food
was not as appetizing as some would have liked, and some students chose
to give it away or worse, to dump it. However, some students took it
upon themselves to finish off the rest of the food, in the case of Grace
and Howard, the latter of which pushed his limits too far. These young
leaders stood up and finished the task when no one else did, and
demonstrated their courageousness.
Courage and trust go hand in
hand. Sometimes, one must be brave and place their faith in someone
else, and trust them to get the job done. This was especially so for the
team captains who attempted to get everything done on their own with
the help of their 2ICs and the students. They were unused to relying on
other people and had preferred to get the job done on their own. This
created a large mess and a delay of two days before the convoy could set
out. As the first week went on, they were able to place their faith in
the students and everything slowly became more and more efficient. The
new set-up of this week sort of threw people for a loop, but we have to
be brave and have faith in this new organization. Also, in the morning
PT that we did in Saskatchewan, students had to trust their peers to
take care of them and not to drop them while they were being carried,
and they had to put aside their differences, which can be hard to do,
and work together.
On the other hand, there were also instances
of a lack of courage. Some of the students were afraid of getting their
hands dirty or were afraid of bugs and whatnot, and it resulted in
extremely dirty tents that were packed up incorrectly and even some that
were damaged.
Cowardice is not necessarily bad; after all, it
has allowed the human race in terms of survival instincts. And although
heroism is often played up and exalted, knowing when not to stand up and
speak out, and instead, time your words, is often what the best course
of action is. Knowing what true courage is, and not fake bravado, is the
ultimate goal. Courage and even bravado are clear in some and not as
clear in others, but it is the job of a leader to draw out that courage
in all.
No comments:
Post a Comment