I Went To Wolf Ridge
What is Wolf Ridge
Wolf Ridge is an environmental Learning Center in Finland, Minnesota, off the North Shore of Lake Superior for learners of all ages. Wolf Ridge provides students a chance to challenge themselves in ways that cannot be achieved in a regular school setting. Wold Ridge helps students grow physically, academically, socially, and emotionally in order to be more successful in the classroom and as a citizen. It will also help children look at themselves, nature, and their community in a new perspective. Wolf Ridge helped me become more independent and responsible.
Why did I go to Wold Ridge?
The reason I went to Wolf Ridge was to branch out and make new friends. On this trip, I tried new things and found hidden talents in my self. I got to learn more about myself, what I like, what I don’t like, what I’m good at, and what I’m not really good at. I also did a Harry Potter skit in the talent show with two friends. The experience of living with friends was exciting and felt like a 5-day sleepover. I faced many challenges but tried to deal with them the best I could. We were late going to Wolf Ridge because of a snowstorm and I missed skiing but that didn’t stop me from having a great time.
My personal growth
My week at Wolf Ridge helped me grow as a person because I faced many obstacles which I had to overcome. There were moments when I was in a bad mood and didn’t want to do the activities. I couldn’t get out of it so I tried to get into it. I had a conflict with one of my good friends because we were disagreeing about our talent show skit. This was just a silly argument and there is no way I was going to let that ruin our good times. We ended up finding a solution and doing the skit together. If we hadn’t done the show together, I would’ve regretted it. Another challenge I faced was during the ropes course. When we were hiking to the course, I got so much snow in my boots. Keep in mind that it was below zero and windy. I had to take off my gloves to get the snow out and my hands got so cold. I got my boot on but I could barely move my hands. I started the ropes course and started to finally have fun but when I got to the zipline the latch wouldn’t open. I took off my gloves once again to get it to open. My hand warmers fell out and dropped to the ground 30 below me. My hands were freezing again and I didn’t have my hand warmers. I was in a BAD mood. My hands were numb and cold. A teacher gave me a hand warmer and I wiggled my fingers to get the blood moving. It was painful but finally my hands felt normal. I went down the zipline and that mad up for everything.
Winter tips
In Finland, Minnesota, it gets extremely cold. Some days go below zeros and into the negatives. Layering up was very important at Wolf Ridge because we were outside for hours. I had multiple handwarmers in my gloves and boots. I had a winter survival class where we had to bulid a fire. It was hard to gather kindling with gloves on. I remove my gloves for 5 minutes and my hands go numb. Another important trick is to cover your boots with stretchy part of your snowpants to avoid getting snow in there. Snow in your boots does not feel good. Another obvious but important tip is when your fingers get numb, wiggle them to keep the blood flowing.