Meet James and Elise

"An Outward Bound course is not just time away for students, the teachers are there as well, they’re relieved of the stress of working and things like that and they become more relaxed in the environment that they’re in. You get to talk to them and, like, when we went camping, they help you through a lot of the walking if things are getting tough."

During their course, they saw their teachers outside of their normal environment. They participated alongside them and saw their teachers go through similar struggles to the ones they were experiencing. This allowed them to connect with each other on a different level - they saw their teachers as individuals – normal people, instead of a teacher figure.

"The teachers did struggle, but they made a joke out of it, they made a bit of banter out of it - I think that’s one of the most precious moments – we saw them as people and not just professionals. We were out of the norm and it really was something quite special."

Thinking back to her course, Elise fondly remembers a particular moment when all hierarchy and formal relationships were removed; teachers and students alike reacted in the moment and simply enjoyed the surroundings and each other’s company.

"We’d got to the top of the mountain, it was snowing, I don’t really remember how it started but it turned into a snowball fight. It was a bit nostalgic because when you’re younger you have a lot of snowball fights, however, it was more than just a few snowballs being thrown around - everyone was smiling, everyone was laughing and enjoying the moment. A point in time where we saw a different side to the teachers, they just acted like they weren’t teaching – it was like we were all friends."