Challenging Limits. Dawn came, it was time. I braced myself for the challenge. Putting up a brave front, the sea expedition leaders split up into four groups and my pair was to be the sweeper; we held the back position and were in charge of encouraging t

Yow Shuning (27) 311

Challenging Limits

Since I was young, I have been smaller than others. I would sigh in frustration whenever physical exhaustion overtook me earlier than my peers. I treated this as a disadvantage and found it extremely unfair. Due to my stubborn nature, however, I chided myself to never give in to my physical disadvantage because I believe that I could do as much as my peers could. This determination was put to test during the sea expedition in the OBS [Outward Bound School] camp that took place in Pulau Ubin.

Each batch of secondary three students has to undergo this camp, perhaps the school’s goal was to make the students cherish what we have in mainland Singapore. My adventure began when I was “abandoned” on Pulau Ubin for a few days to endure physical and mental hardship without our usual luxuries and modern technology. Sleeping in tents and losing the chance to use clean toilets did not bother me; it was the sea expedition that did. My horror started when I was elected as the sea expedition leader to lead the group to kayak around Pulau Ubin. Fear gripped me when I realized the other leaders and I were to be the pillar of support for the group and my heart shuddered at the thought of failure. A single question crossed my mind, “Would my weakness be my obstacle?” Then, a sleepless night followed.

Dawn came, it was time. I braced myself for the challenge. Putting up a brave front, the sea expedition leaders split up into four groups and my pair was to be the sweeper; we held the back position and were in charge of encouraging the people who were lagging behind and to push them to join the main fleet. Irony, I thought, I might be the one who needs to be encouraged.

Shortly, the preparations were done and the whole fleet set off. For the first two hours and the group was going at a steady speed, it started ...

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Shortly, the preparations were done and the whole fleet set off. For the first two hours and the group was going at a steady speed, it started to rain and reality dawned on me; the currents and wind were going against us, it was going to be a tough fight against nature. The sea expedition leaders were the only ones who knew this information and I was determined to not let it show on my face and in turn affect the members. Every meter we progressed, we were pushed back half the distance by the waves. I steeled my heart and just kept on shouting encouragements to the lagging kayaks. My arms were sore from hours of paddling, my palms blistering from gripping the paddles and my lips were chapped from shouting but that did not stop me ----- I just kept on paddling and repeating in my mind, “Good things come in small packages. What makes you so sure you can’t do it?” I knew that if I stopped persevering, if I gave in to my limits, if I stopped shouting, the others would stop kayaking.

After 11 hours of continuous kayaking and battling nature, I was never so jubilant and elated to see land. I looked around me and I saw weary faces but I believed I broke into an almost hysteric laughter and I just could not stop smiling. My body aches were forgotten in joy when I stepped on the sandy shore. Neither the pain nor the fact that we reached shore held the most importance; it was simply that I challenged my limit and proved to myself that I have the same capabilities as others. Something that I gained from OBS was the knowledge of the need to continuously challenge my own limits, because I tend to give myself less credit than what I truly can do.

Challenging Limits. Dawn came, it was time. I braced myself for the challenge. Putting up a brave front, the sea expedition leaders split up into four groups and my pair was to be the sweeper; we held the back position and were in charge of encouraging t

This is a preview of the whole essay

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