Ordinary_jess in her ordinary_job, doing some not-so-ordinary shit!

I am a teacher and it has kind of defined me over the past 10 years. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is not necessarily a good thing either, as I am certainly defined by more than just my profession. However, teaching has always been my ‘thing’, my ‘go-to’, it's what I am good at. It is just how it is; I am an educator. Recently though, as I hope you are beginning to see through my posts, I am starting to define myself as more than a teacher. I am starting to see myself as someone who is wild, happy and fun; a nature-seeking adventurer.

But this last week I was lucky enough to combine my love of hiking with my love of teaching.

Teaching in a public school can often be challenging and funding is always problematic and so teachers are frequently required to think ‘out of the box’ when it comes to excursions. I am, however, very lucky to teach a senior subject that mandates a field trip each year to meet the course requirements. So, when given the opportunity to plan a trip, I chose one of my new favourite walking tracks as the location (#sneakyhike). \

I day-tripped to the Bunya Mountains National Park with 13 fifteen and sixteen year olds! Many people might say that this would be their worst nightmare (don’t worry, sometimes I feel that way too)! But not this day. This day, I loved every moment!

They were excited prior to the trip. Okay, I lie; they were not too eager about the 7:30am departure (insert eye roll about teenagers here) but they were otherwise looking forward to the trip, as only two students had visited the national park before.

Upon arrival, they whinged about the significant drop in temperature (max. temp. for the day was 16ºC). But the walk warmed them up, as did the banter exchanged with the National Parks Ranger, Kelvin (a bloody champ who has worked there for 21 years!). I kept a brisk pace with them but also found myself wanting to stop at all the way-points I thought were cool. I wanted them to enjoy the peacefulness, touch the texture of the bark, stop to look at strange-coloured fungi. I wanted to talk to them about the human impacts imposed on the natural environment. And to my surprise (and utter joy), they did too. It was a teacher’s dream excursion; students wanting to be immersed in the experience, ask questions and ponder impacts. OMG!!

It was a teacher’s dream excursion!

My favourite teacher-moment though, was when, on the walk back to the bus, my two EAL/D students (sorry, teacher lingo – English as a second language or dialect) told me they had never been to a forest of any kind before. Woah! Talk about being blown away. Two girls, 15 years old, one from Central Africa, one from the Middle East, neither who had seen a forest before. What an experience for them! What an experience for me as a teacher and a hiker.

It was such wonderful inspiration to continue exploring and to encourage others to do it with me!

Sometimes, on days like this, I think it might be okay to be defined as a teacher (who hikes).

FYI - My lack of technology skills meant I handed over editing rights to a 12-year-old...hence the devil emoji choice hahaha