by Caciques Simon Mauck and Brian Higgs

 Reflecting on Solo:

During our eight day kayak trips, we spent the fifth and sixth days alone on the beach for forty-eight hours. Each student was spread apart from one another enough to see each other in the distance, but we could not interact. Every student adapted the experience in their own way: some sat in silence on their stretch of beach others used their creativity to find ways to pass the time. Students sometimes sang to themselves or created things on the beach like huts, drawings in the sand, or they played in the water.

Although every student had their own individual experience, we all left the beach with a stronger understanding of ourselves. Having the time to be alone for two days allows people to think more deeply about their lives and themselves. After being in silence for so long, reuniting with the rest of your kayak group was that much more special. Also, being quiet for so long led us to not being able to stop talking once we were together again.

Some of the groups ended up having rain at night or cold winds that chilled them to the bone, but even in stormy weather and cold nights, the solos ended up being an experience that every student felt they learned from.