the Challenges: great and small

My name is Sarah HP and I’m a Venturer Scout which means I have special abilities.

They’re supposed to be secret but, I think I can trust you.

I can leap off cliffs and survive. Just Imagine it for a second… You are teetering on the edge of a precipice. So high that below you the people are like ants. Your heart pounds, your knees shake, your hands clench and you lean back…

Over the edge you’re just… floating. You can see the rope that holds you as you safely abseil down the rock face.

That’s my real secret: I’ve learnt how to abseil.

Thanks to scouts and school excursions I’ve have the opportunity to do things that are a little wacky, but also fantastically fun!

Thus last holidays I led a four day hike over more than 70km along the Great North Walk. We started along the picturesque Hawkesbury River and pretty soon figured out it was harder than we’d thought.

It was the five of us against nature. Joe, Eli, Lachlan, Stephany and I all teenage venturer scouts ready to face this adventure. So hard that within the first ten minutes there were already whining children at my heels:

“Sarah, why’d you have to pick a hike with so many hills?” Oh yeah, oops.

On the plus side the brush was bursting with brilliant blooms, it was like somebody had emptied a flower kaleidoscope upon the hills. The views were spectacular after we’d dragged ourselves up 100’s of metres to the ridge-tops. They were a sweet reward for our efforts.

But there were still greater challenges for us upon this hike.

On the second day Stephany sprained ankle an ankle and the next day we lost her for a number of hours, but that all paled next to our final day:

The last day of our journey and we were so close to our victorious descent into Yarramalong, our endpoint. When…

Joe broke out in hideous fiery rashes. They spread across his skin, burning, itching and unstoppable. We had no antihistamines. No phone service. Panic set in for all of us: What if you were helplessly watching as dangerous rashes spread over your friend? Would you know what to do?

Eli and Lachlan heroically sprinted the 2kms to Yarramalong and called up for antihistamines. Steph and I were left to look on as the rashes got angrier. Can you imagine the feeling when you’re itching, almost as much as Joe was, to do something (anything) yet you can only wait.

After what felt like hours Eli and Lachlan came back to us. Help was on the way. Joe was just tough enough that he could walk so we stumbled onto the main road and fell with relief upon our emergency anti-histamine carriers. We hopped in the cars not even a k from our end point, not quite finishing as victoriously as we’d imagined. But everyone was safe, finally.

And with that happy ending here’s the moral.

 My four day journey was also a metaphoric journey of discovery. A challenge conquered. Everyone should be challenged because it is by challenges that we learn and improve.

So to better yourselves I challenge you, all of you, to take every day as an adventure for yourself. Make the most from life, grab every opportunity and be the best that you can be.

Thank you.

** Tonight Orara High School had five entrants (of six) into the Coffs Harbour Club Lions Youth of the Year competition of which I was one.  The speeches were tremendous and above is mine, given to a room of teachers, parents and most importantly Lions members.  Thank you to Lions for the opportunity to speak to you all.  It was a fantastic night :)