the outdoor classroom

Hello all.



I would just like to say that i have succesfully completed Nico and have recieved my certificate of completion. I can not tell you much about it but i will say as much as i can.



so what is nico? It is a five day trip into the wilderness which involves no links to civilization and living very minimally. We had a limited packing list without the joys of deoderant and toothpaste. It is foccused on overcoming. Overcoming emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual challenges. It is about learning. Learning about teamwork, leadership, surrendering, and servanthood.



It is the most intense "program" i've ever gone through. Not because any task was too difficult to complete but because everything we did needed our all... and giving your all into everything for a week gets exhausting and beign in a group of 35 people with no alone time for that long is also draining.



All i can tell you about what we did is that we did alot of walking and hiking in the woods. We did teambuilding activities and we praised God in all circumstances and truly relied on God and upon one another to get through each day. If you ever have an oportunity to do a Nico... do one! HOnestly it is probably the best learning experience I've had.



So what did i learn?

• I learnt that you can accomplish so much more when you work together.


• I learnt what it means to lead in humility and to lead from underneath as a servant


• I learnt that when you put others ahead of yourself great things are accomplished


• I learnt what it means to surrender your rights


• I learnt what it means to support your team members


• I learnt about the power of encouragment. That a small encouraging word can be exactly what you need to keep going.


• I learnt about perserveerance and what it means to keep fighting when you just want to give up.


• I learnt about Loving through actions.


• I learnt how to dry your wet clothes when its raining and there is no place to hang them ( sleep with them in your sleeping bag and they will dry overnight) each night i slept with my pants in my sleeping bag and all my wet socks nicely against my stomach and chest underneet my shirt) smelled great!


• I learnt that if you tuck your wet socks into your pants while you walk your body heat will dry them and you'll always have an alternate pair for halfway thoruh the day when you need to change socks.

What did i experience?

• I experienced teamwork
• I experienced community living in its extreme
• I experienced rationing (food and toilet paper)
• I experienced the realitiy of ticks. Good thing i got my TBE vaccination.
• I experienced frustration and the importance of surrender.
• I experienced the outdoors.
• I experienced how seriously necessary hard core rain gear is necessary here.

Nico was amazing but challenging. It served its purpose well. It definitally taught is in a hands on / outdoor classrom type of way. HOwever... I do not feel like heading out on another Nico anytime soon...