Always rise up and try to seize the top of whatever you are climbing in your life at the moment.

Sanni Hydén & Erin Melán

As winter passed by with its unforgettable memories all around Finland, we found ourselves back at campus together. All of us had gone our separate ways for internships. Thus, we hadn’t seen each other as a class in over three months. A few of us were located in Finnish Lapland, some in southern Finland, some in-between, and even abroad. Coming back to class, smiles were seen and hugs were felt.

First Aid Skills and Internship Presentations

The first week back at campus was spent learning wilderness first aid skills on a three-day course facilitated by NOLS. During the course, we improved previously acquired skills and learned new and different first aid methods by doing small scenes with different equipment such as fake blood, detached fingers, helmets, and bruises. Learning in a theatrical and goofy way boosted our group’s morale after a long winter apart. These three days were a relaxed and enjoyable way to get back to life as an adventure education student.

The following week was spent listening to people’s experiences with their practical training placements. Students held a short presentation with pictures about what they had learned during the winter and their feelings about their learning experiences. The internships were carried out in different workplaces, such as youth centers, tourism companies, sports teams, and photography companies. Part of the skills that were learned included soft skills and instructing different activities. It was influential learning about experiences in internship placements and gaining useful insight into areas where we can establish and use the skills we’ve acquired through Humak.

Learning-Filled Spring

Throughout the spring we’ve deepened our recently obtained skills in several areas. As part of Promotion of Agency and Participatory Pedagogy courses, students planned and executed activities using pedagogical approaches promoting the participants’ agency. As a recap of what we had learned in these courses, we conducted simple games for adults. This way we tested what we had learned in theory and got to be part of seeing new learning methods and skills play out in practice.

Currently we are spending two weeks finishing our basic technical skills course. In order to conclude the skills, we traveled to Tampere Climbing Center to learn the basics of top-rope belaying, basic climbing techniques, and bouldering and took a belay card test. What’s still left to learn is being taught the intricacies of outdoor climbing in Jaanankallio, Hyvinkää and the basics of kayaking which is preparing us for a kayaking expedition in Tammisaari National Park taking place next fall.

Evolving Group Dynamics

The dynamics of our class have changed since autumn in a more developed way. Everyone is relaxed with one another and the overall vibe and morale are higher and tighter. The excitement of the new and the pressure to get to know each other has relaxed a bit since last autumn, and the excitement of the new has settled. The excitement is not gone, it is still there but simply shows up in a more subtle way. We spent our academic year learning new skills, and this spring all of our skills will be wrapped up together and used during our summer apart. See you next autumn back at campus!

Blog by Sanni Hydén & Erin Melán