I observed my internal stillness and was active about cultivating my mindfulness practice which I embed in my undergraduate research. I actively consider reality and the world around me and how environments impact stimuli. I merge life lessons and my research in a seamless way, for I don't believe learning should be separate from the way I actively experience the world around me. I also struggled with photography which lead me to shift my concentration in my major. I felt that I learned a tremendous amount that I will take back with me. I never use my tripod so learning how to use it with night photography was incredibly useful in my practice. I'm considering how or if I intend to use these images in my thesis work. I am still fleshing out this question but I deeply appreciate the opportunity to reflect on this experience and how I intend to integrate it into my life, for the rest of my life.
What was your favorite part of the trip?
This question is so hard. I almost don't like answering it lol. There were so many amazing moments. My favorite group moment was the dinner on the last night. That entire evening I felt the closest to the entire group. But I can't choose between those moments and the moments that I was just struck with awe and appreciation for everything around me and the space I had to reflect internally. Those moments alone I learned so much about myself and how I want to be and what I wish to continue to cultivate within myself to feel stronger and self-reliant.
I have become more motivated to seek out the nature that is around me. Too often I take for granted what is around me and feel I have to go somewhere else to have an immersive experience but I am doing better at learning how to recognize what is already around me
I have become more motivated to seek out the nature that is around me. Too often I take for granted what is around me and feel I have to go somewhere else to have an immersive experience but I am doing better at learning how to recognize what is already around me
"Now that I've got a taste of OA adventures, I want to take part in more to continue connecting with the world."
The experience got me thinking of how I should give time to step back from my life and look at the world at a whole and find peace, especially during the times when I feel the most stressed out.
I always feel compelled to have more meaningful conversations on OA trips (one of my favorite things about them). I feel that without the "USD facade" that everyone tends to have on campus, people are more comfortable and willing to be themselves (myself included). I appreciate OA trips for allowing that space.
These conversations were more open and less filtered in ways because the environment encourage it. I think we all came into this weekend knowing we could stress too much about school because there was no real way to work on homework and everything - it was able to distance us from out normal stresses so we could focused more on each other and the experience.
The diversity of people in the group helped me realize my relative role towards each person in order to contribute to a more cohesive group in general. The conversations were definitely more in depth than on campus bc of the guides as well as the environment backpacking provides
What are students saying?