Officer Specialist School Year 12 Camp Blog

The Officers Specialist School arrived on a sunny Wednesday afternoon and were introduced to their coach, Steph/ Spinks, in the Blue Room. There, they learned about the Five Keys (Have Fun, Play All In, Make Mistakes, Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable, and Don’t Go Home Wondering What If) and a welcome brief to the camp.

They then headed to the BBQ shelter in the Hub to participate in their first set of icebreaker activities. The first one was called 'Where is George', where groups had to work together to rescue a squeaky toy pig named George from the coaching staff. The second activity was called tiles/connect the dots, where the groups had to get from point A to B using only the tiles on the ground and their bodies.

The first activity for the day was the Snowy River Challenge, where the groups completed one lap in an impressive 26 minutes and 34 seconds. They then set a target, stretch, and a super stretch (a goal-setting strategy here at The Summit) and managed to complete the super stretch in under 10 minutes, with the second lap completed in 6 minutes. They then asked what the record was, currently 4 minutes and 24 seconds, and smashed it by completing a third lap in 3 minutes and 16 seconds. Well done, team!

They then finished an activity called Halfpipe, where they had to get Jackovich the tennis ball from one side of the park to the other into his home. The final activity of the day was Flying Fox, where all the guys got into their harnesses and zipped down across the lake, which was very relaxing and a lot of fun for all. Shout out to Jaxon and Zach for getting through it.

On Day 2, we finished our morning with a hearty breakfast before gathering in the Blue Room. Steph led us through a morning intention session where we set our goals for the day and determined how we wanted our day to unfold without being influenced by external factors. After jotting down a few intentions on the whiteboard, we headed over to the BBQ shelter to play a game of Jockeys to warm up our bodies for the day ahead. Our first activity was Tash's Ladder, the tallest activity yet, which had all the participants climb to the top of the tower and do their best to climb the ladder. Congratulations to Zach, Billy, and Josh for pushing your limits. Next up was the Giant Swing, which made some of us nervous, but we all supported each other to reach our desired heights. Even Raul and Zach went last despite feeling uncomfortable. The following activity was called the Leap of Faith, where some of us went for the ball while others took a 'leap of faith' off the platform. After three intense sessions, we took a break for lunch and rested. Next up was the Monster Course, and we got changed and geared up for it.

The Rock Wall was the perfect warm-up before the Monster Course started. Our group had two sides of walls to complete, and Rob and Cam were the show's stars. Rob climbed every wall with ease, while Cam managed to make it up the overhang and crushed the other wall. After Rock Wall, we headed back to the BBQ shelter for some afternoon tea before starting the Monster Course.

We began the course with three tires linked together and completed the first lap in a remarkable 29 minutes and 13 seconds. For our second lap, we did a target, stretch, and super stretch, which helped us improve our time by a whopping 10 minutes and 30 seconds. We completed the lap in 18 minutes and 43 seconds, a significant achievement for our team.

To celebrate our accomplishments, we headed over to the water slides and had a blast going on the blue slide multiple times. We even got to experience the drop slide, an epic way to end our fantastic day. Well done, team!

Our last day of camp was a mix of emotions. At breakfast, some of us had sad faces while we enjoyed our pancakes and coffee. Then, we headed back to the Blue Room for an intention session. We watched a video called 'Jelly Beans' that reminded us of how many days we have left for school, how many days we missed out on camp activities, and how many days we must be grateful for. We reflected on our blessings and shared them.

After that, we went to the park for our final two activities. The first was the Sky Bridge, and we had people do it quickly. Josh even did it twice, and Cam tried his best and succeeded. The last activity was Laser Skirmish, where both teams had a lot of fun and won at least one game.

To end the camp, we made a circle and talked about the whole experience. We used three different tools - something that rocked our world, something we liked, and something we were proud of. Then, we voted for different categories and people. Josh was the hero of the group, Billy and Blade were the ones who persevered through hardships, and Jai and Zach were the people who represented the Five Keys the most. Congrats to everyone for a great week!

On behalf of The Summit team, I would like to say once again thank you for coming to camp and having all the fun ☺️