Hi, I’m Mitch and I’m from Maffra Secondary College in Gippsland, my home town is Dargo about a 1 hour drive from Maffra, North in the hills. I was a student leader yesterday, part of being a student leader is writing a blog the next day so that you people that want to know about Snowy River can read and get a basic idea of our day to day life.

Every Saturday we have a free day, a free day is where you get to either relax and do nothing or organize a trip, today the trips on offer were going to the beach in the morning or going fishing in the arvo, I went fishing. In the morning we hung about for a bit until after morning tea, after morning tea we went and continued building our mountain bike track. That was time well spent for the crew that were left here.

After lunch we got our rods ready, got in the buses and went to a place in Marlo called French’s Narrows in on the Melbourne side of the estuary in Marlo. Unfortunately we did have much luck but we have a good time and all enjoyed getting out. Most of the people that went used the schools rods but there were a couple including myself that brought our own rods and tackle so we got to do some spinning. Still had no luck, the only thing we caught out of the whole time was some weed that got caught on a hook. It was pretty depressing but no denying that we will but at it again sometime in the near future and we will have more luck. Even Mr O’Hagan didn’t have any luck. Maybe we went at the wrong time or maybe there’s no fish.

Tonight we have a Community Movie night where we all choose a movie and are able to watch it as our night class it should be good, the choices are Happy Feet, The Incredibles and another movie that I’ve never even heard of. I myself will be going with ‘Happy Feet’ but we will see how it goes.

By Mitch, Maffra SC

My name is Courtney and I am from Echuca College, Yesterday I was student leader with Mitch. Our goals that we set went really well and I think we both learnt a lot of new skills of actually being a leader in the community.

Today was our second rest day (but it didn’t involve much resting) so a couple of people put up some ideas in what exactly people wanted to do. In the morning I went to the beach with the lucky other 21 people. We set up a pretty snazzy looking volleyball net and played an enthusiastic game of volleyball. We also had an awesome time swimming in the surf in our very attractive wetsuits. While others floated over mini tsunamis, some chose to try and give body surfing a go!
When we got back in was a real fight for the three showers in the girl’s wing, but in the end most of us all ended up getting the salt water out of our hair. Later on a group of people went to build a bike track in the amazing, dangerous, fearful, traumatic…. Bush. It was actually very fun and we ended up getting a lot done. We had a great, efficient team to work with. But, if someone happens to injure themselves walking on the track, don’t look at us.
At afternoon tea everyone was very excited about Eric’s Birthday! But I think we were more excited about the amazing ice cream cake… We sang a happy birthday and I think Eric had a fantastic day here.

Overall, today was pretty great (as all rest days are) but I’m pretty excited to get back into work tomorrow and getting ready to head out on expo soon!

By Courtney- Echuca College

Today my expo group and I had surfing at Cape Conron! It was so amazing and exhilarating!! It was the first time I had been surfing and it was so much fun, I can’t believe I haven’t discovered it before! Our instructors today were great; they were so nice and helpful! After many failed attempts I finally stood up and caught a wave!!

S-surviving all of the wipe-outs
U-unreal waves
R-running through the waves
F-FUN!!!
I-incredible experience
N-never going to forget
G-getting so much better by the end

Yesterday while I was student leader with Conner we had a video link up with the other student leaders at the other campuses. It was so great to see the other students having such a great time, just like we are! I had such a great time being student leader; I loved telling everyone about my home town during our morning announcements!

Everything here at Snowy is so interesting and fun!! I am having the time of my life and I can’t wait for it to continue!

Isobelle – Kyneton SC

When I heard Debbie Gray was coming into the Snowy River Campus on Sunday I was so excited. From the moment she walked in I was inspired.

Debbie was born without arms and thigh bones, but she never let that stop her from doing anything. She has lived her life to the fullest. She has sky dived, had a baby, and much more! She has worked with the local surf club and raised a heap of money to them buy a new buggy.

Deb is the loveliest person and shared many stories and life lessons. Some of the things she said that really inspired me were: “if you wake up every day and think, hey, what can I do for someone else, you will get so much more satisfaction out of life” and “you get what you give”. Debbie taught us a theory that if you wake up and you feel like things couldn’t get worse, you should go to a mirror and just smile. It hits a nerve and sends a signal to the brain and the serotonin makes you feel better. Debbie and other people with difabilities are sick of people judging them before they know her. She can drink tea, write and do just about anything we can do. I learnt so much from Debbie and she has made me think twice about saying I can’t do something or it’s too hard because as Deb said, we can do anything.

Megan - Wangaratta

Yesterday, my expo group 2B went on the half day bike ride. We travelled along Marlo Plains Road. It was harder than I thought it would be but I had fun.

We rode along the main road for a kilometre or two then we turned down another road and that turned into a dirt road very fast. It was bumpy on the dirt road because of all the big rocks.

When we stopped for morning tea a beautiful black horse came up to us. Molly fed it some apple and we all patted it but it liked Mitch the most, he’s a bit of a horse whisperer.

On the way home, we went down a huge hill to Point Ricardo. We sat there for a few minutes and then we had to ride back up the hill, not fun. Overall, the sun was shining and everyone had fun so that’s the main thing.

By Louise - Maffra SC

Friday my expo group (1B) had Beliefs & Values first. We talked about some heavy topics such as racism, body image, gay marriage, and abortion. It was really interesting to hear everyone’s opinions and their ‘beliefs & values’.

After lunch we had our first surfing lesson. I was really excited to surf because I’d never done it before. We all put on wetsuits and headed to Cape Conran. We learnt the basics on the sand before testing our skills in the water. It was quite cold and windy but the wetsuits kept us warm in the waves. At one point it even rained. Being in the ocean was fantastic! I love the beach. By the end of the session most of us had stood up on our boards for at least a few seconds. It took me a huge number of tries to stand up, and on my very last wave, I did! Just shows how persistence and resilience really pay off! It was a bit awkward getting changed out of our wetsuits in the bushes afterwards, but it was all fun! Surfing is definitely one of my favourite experiences at Snowy so far.

Zoe - Wangaratta

Hey guy and girls, Connor here!

Now what happens now is we tell you about what has happened around the SRC today and maybe yesterday if you’re lucky.

Today my expo group (2B, YAY!) managed to get on with photography, which if anyone who is reading this finds it interesting, do it. Not only do you get to be creative in what you can take a picture of, but you get to make your own story with pictures. Now this was done down on the beach at Cape Conran, the crew had heaps of fun shooting at the rock peaks and down in the water, getting their hands dirty trying to get the perfect shots and waiting for the time a crow flies over your head.

After that was more of the theory classes. 2B ended up doing their third passport class in a row, not that it is bad. Most of the time work towards the passport was productive and energetic, but others some people managed to sing to the music they were hearing and laughing about each other’s voices.

Now comes the time where I have to bid you farewell and goodbye, sorrowfully and get back to having fun down at the SRC.

Enjoy yourselves,

By Connor- Red Cliffs Secondary