Hi my name is Emma and I’m form Bairnsdale Secondary College.

Being here at Snowy is not what you expect; it is lots of fun waking up every morning on campus and having 4 meals made for you. We have to do our own washing and we have to re-make our beds every Monday night and we share duties ( e.g. washing dishes, cleaning the bathroom and sweeping the common room).

You get to know everyone very easily and soon you are one big happy family. You have your ups and downs but at 4:30 every day we get mail and it is often everyone’s favourite part of the day. We have lights out at 9:30pm and we can start having showers from 6:30am.

Every day is another jam packed adventure, even if it is an easy inside day. We have an evening class from 7:30pm till 8:30pm every day. We do many activities including surfing, caving, snorkelling, canoeing, expeditions and many more.

I love it here at Snowy and I don’t want to go back to a normal school. The cooks are fantastic and really nice and all the staff are helpful and easy to get along with. One of my favourite activities so far has been canoeing because it was so peaceful and calm and we had to capsize which was my favourite part of the day. One of my favourite classes has been relaxation, we did some meditation and relaxation stretches, at the end of the class we did a 20 min. meditation. It was great fun and everyone really enjoyed it.

Emma - Bairnsdale SC

Hi my name is Jake I just came back from expo the other day it was so fun we did heaps of walking but still had time for games.

The first tip I have for anyone reading this to try and get tips for when they come here is to make sure you actually bring your own sleeping bag because these ones are so hard to put in their carry bags and practice packing a lot of stuff in big bags because when you try and pack it you realise that you needed to pack important stuff at the top and the least useful stuff at the bottom. Second, you have to walk for a long time so make sure that you bring your hiking boots and a pair of thongs to play around on the beach with because your boots will get stinky and you need to air them because if you don’t then your room/ tent while smell so bad. That also stands for the wings when you get back, make sure you put your clothes straight into the wash and your boots outside so they can air themselves and so your rooms don’t have to sink any more than they already will. One last thing that is the most important thing, number 23 is the best number in the world!

Jake - Swifts Creek School

“I take another step closer. The water shines; its shimmering surface reflects dancing sun rays on the golden sand. I test the water; the cool liquid sends chills up my spine. I take another step. The waves form together, tumbling and rolling, crashing down onto the shore. I move on through the water, the sea is so crystal clear.

The water is waist deep now, and the waves come faster, higher and stronger. I pull the board behind me, watch enchanted as the hard plastic moves smoothly over the bumpy surface. The waves keep coming, taller than before, knocking over everyone in its path down.

I’m sucked under, the waters depths pulling me down. The waves wash over my head; I can hear a slight splash of water droplets, flying off the rolling waves. I push up, holding on to my board. The sun’s glare reflects off the water, stinging my eyes as I emerge from the seas watery depths.

Sliding onto my board, I paddle hard, rising above the oncoming waves. The water ripples, the waves tumble. Turning the board around, I wait. I watch the gentle movement of the sea around me, listen to the roaring waves coming behind me, the echoing voice of a seagull flows through the air. A sea weed sways backwards and forwards in the damp grainy sand below.  I feel the water rushing behind me, now’s my chance. I paddle hard, toes on the end of the board. I can feel the wave pick me up; the white froth of a tidal wave splashes out all around me. I can feel the wave push me; I push up on my board, keeping my hands by my waist.

The wave thunders toward the beach. I get onto my knees. The water rushes into rock pools ahead, creating a white frothy pillow. I rise, placing both my feet in the centre of the board, turning on my side. Legs hip length apart. I let go of the board slowly, catching my balance, steadying my stance. I spread my arms out, as if I was flying through the air. The wave still carries me, the water cradling me on my journey to the shore.

I feel so free riding the waves. The gentle warm breeze flows around me, the hot sun stares down from the sky, warming up the water, the air, the sand. I can taste the salty sea spray in the wind; hear the whispering of leaves from far away. I reach shore, the wave whips around me before plummeting down onto the beach, creating a white frothy watery mass.”

By Emily, Rosebud Secondary College

It was interesting to find out how people like the same things but can think about them completely differently. I now feel like I can see why people would have a certain view on a subject or matter because it is not only opinionated but it is in the way they think about a situation. Not only do I see how others apply their thinking patterns to real life I now pick up my own rational self and the hints of yellow that are there as well.

In the HDBI test the result show the areas of the brain we most dominate in, the test works as follows we are given a sheet of paper with 60 – 80 questions on the page and we were only allowed to choose 24 when we had completed the test we had to fold the page in quarters and we then found out that these represented different brain quadrant the top left is blue (rational self) top right is yellow (experimental self) the bottom left is green (safekeeping self) and finally the bottom right (feeling self).

Our results are as follows…
LOUIS - Blue:12; Yellow: 9; Green:2; Red:1
SAMMI- Blue:9; Yellow:6; Green:8; Red:1

Sammi & Louis