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Post-Expedition Update
“WORDS ON THE WALL”
Never has the surreal been more real.
Never has something made me feel the things you all made me feel in ten days.
I wish you all nothing less than your every dreams to come true.
Love + Luck, Jess Myers
This has been something that I will never forget. I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for making this possible. I have met people that I will never forget and I thank you all.
Love, Drew Cemer
The Drake Passage…
The loudest day in the Antarctic is more peaceful than the quietest day anywhere else.
- Orion
I left part of myself in Antarctica.
You can't put a price on this life altering expedition.
Good snow…good snow ROX.
- Mandi
Nothing less than anything I could have never dreamed of…Jess
I'll never forget seeing my first penguin, iceberg, seal, or wild orca.
One word to sum up the trip is "inspirational".
I learned how we impact this place and the rest of the world and how little changes at home can help save the world.
Serenity,
Clean fresh air rubs against the face,
The water numbs the fingers.
Sounds of penguins fill the airways.
Icebergs captivate the mind.
Serenity
"Flexibility is the key"
- Geoff, Deception Island
I learned about my impact on the environment, and I will try to help it.
I'll never forget the Drake Passage.
Seeing the orcas teaching their young to hunt…my wish came true on Christmas Day after so many years of waiting…
I hope we all could keep this "amazing" place without pollution and all those bad things we have in the rest of the planet to let the next generation enjoy it as much as we did.
MMc.
Gentoos…Adelies…Chinstraps
What has this trip meant to me…well, I don't think that words can do it justice, but I will say that I am much more confident in who I am becoming. It is so nice to see so many youth get together with such passion and fire. I will remember ICE & ICE!! They say a picture paints a thousand words, but I still can't paint Antarctica.
"…If they get stuck again, I am going to cry."
- Phillip
This trip has made me 'official Canadian' Eh? I now spell colour with a 'u' and tonne with an extra 'ne'.
Geoff or Jeff?
Ice, pretty blue ice
The singing seal
Water
People
Discussions
Sunsets/sky
Guano (penguin poop)
Drive
Determination
Motivation
Outspokenness
There is not one word in the dictionary that could accurately describe my experience in Antarctica.
This trip was like no other.
Highlight: Lauracindy "sliding" down the hill.
I will never forget as long as I live the water in Paradise Bay.
Much more fun than I thought it would be. Can't wait to go back.
Swimming in Antarctica was incredible! It was so clear and cold. As I dived in I felt so alive it was amazing and crazy. Thank you for giving me the chance to do that!
A new view of life…
The friends are incredible and the scenery even more amazing than I imagined. I was inspired!
The highlight of this inspirational trip was hiking over Deception Island. I will never forget swimming outside an active volcano! This is a trip of a lifetime.
My best memory was sliding down the face of the glacier on Neko Harbor.
I'll never forget the seeing the whales hunting the seal.
Port Lockroy
I love all of you! You all are everything and more. Miss you all already.
The sudden disappearance of Ponko.
Kissing James the Gaucho.
Drake Passage Perfect Storm.
Speedos are smaller than you think.
Penguin Stone Soup
Ice is nice but it can still beat you up.
The wine at the ranch.
Soaked by bow waves…my underwear is still moist.
My heart warms as I see the icy love of my friends.
Human train down mountain
Room inspections
Raymundo!
Guano!
"Epic"
Adding six nationalities to the list.
AWESOME
Being in isolation from technology and with nature
Sled rides
Train sledding at Neko
Watching orcas hunting a seal on an ice floe.
Having the ability to meet so many unique individuals.
Speedos are the new boardshorts.
Life has an all new perspective of how small we really are. But yet an individual has the ability to change others' perspectives of the world too. And I guess making new friends was cool too.
- Bobby G.
We all came south with the privilege of visiting Antarctica. We now return north with the responsibility of protecting it and the other wild places on our planet.
"There's nothing to fear, but fear itself" once you realize that everything is possible…even going to Antarctica.
Amazing life changing experience; totally worth the travel. Can't wait to get home and share everything I learned from the staff, fellow youth, and the Antarctic environment.
- Josh
Coming on this trip has exposed me to so many things. It's hard to explain in words because no "adjective" can express the impact that Antarctica has done to my life. Just being recommended for this trip was an honor and now being able to feel, breathe, see, and touch it, is unbelievable. I have see nature at its best and felt that emptiness I was looking for. Being able to sit on top of a mountain and listening and seeing the icebergs, I know that I will take this amazing journey and keep it in my mind and heart forever. I have grown…
- Yesenia Esguerra
I was actually "walking in a winter wonderland." I will definitely miss this place and everyone I met who I hope to someday see again. Maybe in some dream I can return to this strangely wonderful, unstressful place where all there is is the sound of glaciers melting, penguins bickering, and where day never ends.
Each morning I awake I look out, then step out into my garden. After a deep breath and viewing of the surrounding garden and neighbourhood, I tell myself how fortunate I am. I constantly remind myself that giving of time, mind and heart to others may well have them celebrate their 'fortunes' as well. A small thing can bring a great amount of pleasure…like watching a penguin skim below the surface of the icy Antarctic waters. WOW!
- Trudy
Antarctica, students, give me hope.
- Adelina
Antarctica, what an amazing experience that I will never forget. It has changed the way that I see the world. It's just pure. There is nothing that can control it and that is something that will stay with me forever.
- Sasha Agosta
Words can't really describe what this trip has meant to me. My 100+ page journal can attest to that. It was a new frontier that I was visiting, and I was awestruck by the beauty of it. It has reminded me how fragile our world is, and what we must do to protect it.
- Phillip Swarts
Volcanoes
To sum up this experience in a mere few words is a task I find too difficult. This incredible trip is summed up in the faces of its participants. Life is amazing. Life is great. Life is precious. I hope that our futures are made better by this. Thank you!!
- Mark O'D
Thanks for the memories, but most important, the many firsts for me…
1) learning and sharing knowledge about the ice continent
2) walking in ice/snow…my first
3) seeing the wildlife
4) informative lectures/workshops
5) family environment shared by all
Thanks.
Fly Away Home
Taking a hike across Deception Island in rubber boots for hours was all worth the view and slide down. It made us experience exploring Antarctica just like the early explorers.
The best Christmas ever!!
It taught me how little control I had in the natural world.
Epic tales by Fletch…what more needs to be said?
The amazing display the orcas put on for us showed the power and intelligence of the natural world. It also shows that humans are not always in control and the only ones with intelligence.
Nature is something more people should think about and conserve. The time is now before it gets too destroyed.
The trip has been spectacular in so many ways. It has helped me to really take a look at my life and re-evaluate how I follow my personal convictions. I hope I live up to what I believe.
I don't want to go home…
"I like penguins. I have a recipe book of them…"
- Scobie
The number ½ million means absolutely nothing until you have the ability to see it with your own eyes.
Unforgettable…cannot be described by pure words.
I felt I belonged more at Antarctica than the Arctic.
Antarctica is a wild place, one of the last that has not yet been tamed by people. It is stunningly beautiful, and I am so grateful that I was able to experience it.
AWESOME
Sometimes it's the silence that speaks so much louder than words.
The entire trip was one of the best experiences in my life. My perspectives on the world and nature have turned around and will motivate me to do more at my home. I met many great people, both students and staff, and I will have some amazing memories which will last my entire life.
- Eric
The magnificent soaring glaciers sparkling in the sunlight.
The millions of tiny penguins having the right of way.
We are all capable of more than we realize.
Life changing
Inspirational
Getting to realize the world I have created in my life is nothing compared to the real world I live in. Feeling the emptiness of knowing that in the big picture, I am nothing more than an ant.
Lauracindy falling down the hill at Neko.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.
I will tell stories about Antarctica to friends, family and co-workers that this place isn't just cold and tell them that it "alive."
This trip has given me wings to fly.
Hiking
Antarctica gives us the wings we lack.
I felt nature take a course on myself and generate through my body about experience, relationships, and friends. I will never forget this experience and I am very thankful. I will never hear natural sounds and feel proud to see humans not ruining nature. The leaders always seemed to act as my parents and they answered all of my questions and problems. I was proud to be nominated for a program that I could represent my school, family, city, and country. The state program was a great success and would like to for live this forever and hope the program lasts for an eternity.
- Travis B
What he said ^
- Sean
Antarctica is as cool as taking a potato and stuffing it with yarn and shooting it through a toothbrush.
Being able to play rugby and have snowball fights and watching the orcas kill peanut and sliding down glaciers and having Susanna's nasty cocoa and playing Irish games and Antarctic ice spitting and doing it all in Antarctica is awesome!
Wandering albatross
I enjoyed seeing all the wildlife and soaking in all the beautiful scenery.
Everyone should see as much of the world as they can. Thanks for taking me to the bottom of it!
Talk about the best Christmas Day ever! Who needs family when you see noisy seals, crazy orcas, peanut, and snow! You don't see that in Florida!
I can't believe that I can now say, "I went swimming in Antarctica." People will think I am crazy.
Life is good…treat it that way.
Nothing can top or even compare to the experience of Antarctica.
After seeing so many animals running around in Antarctica, I can't imagine how anyone could justify putting them in zoos. No cage, no matter how big or clean, could possibly be the same as living in their natural environment. If penguins were so beautiful as they swam in the ocean, they clearly belong there, instead of behind glass.
No matter how cheesy it sounds, this is such a life changing experience. The landscape, animals, and personalities I have encountered have changed me for the better. I am more motivated, understanding, and confident. Thank you.
What is life without experience and people to share it with?
Singing seal
Mother nature says it all. Treat it with high esteem and it will treat you well too.
The Vavilov
Where is Ponko? The hostage situation.
Fletch's epic stories
"I have a book on penguins…" - Scobie
The impact it has had on everyone is amazing.
Ice
Penguins
Ice
Zodiacs
Ice
Tales from the future
Ice
The seal and the killer whales.
Though I can't think of anything worse than sea-sickness, the brief periods in between the nausea were so incredible I would gladly repeat the trip.
Antarctica - land of ice, death, life, and epic adventures. - Sean
This trip has been an absolute enjoyment and I'm grateful to have spent it with such great people. SOI & Antarctica Rocks!!
"At its most peaceful and silent never has a place spoken so loudly to me." - Mark O'D
When you hear people describe Antarctica as desolate, hostile, and uninhabitable, remember to complete the phrase with "for people." For those that live here, the penguins, seals, whales, etc.,..Antarctica is their home and they would not trade it for anywhere else on the planet.
The great white continent
Where I breathe more deeply
Where I hear so clearly
Where my voice resonates beautifully &
Where I see with true vision.
A vision to carry forward…
I had an awesome roomie!
- Mandi
orca feeding time
I will always have friends all over the globe.
This trip has changed my outlook on life. I realize now how wasteful I am. My highlight however is Deception Island; getting to the top, finally, taught me I can do anything I put my mind to.
Antony, Howie, Scobie, Jorn, Juliette, Diz, Geoff, Adelina, Santiago, Cecelie, Dave, Fred, Daniel, Doc, Barb, etc…
Fireworks in Argentina
Being kissed by old Argentinians
Sliding down mountains
Hiking over Deception Island
Shopping
Matching cowboy hats
I enjoyed watching Jorn jump off a cliff into the sno!
KARMA
FLEXIBILITY
Paradise Bay and some awesome pictures to go with it.
Christmas and the surrounding days. The experience of a lifetime.
Hike up…slide down
Personal reflection
Seeing my first whales
BIG ideas
Big learning
Big moments
Big surprises
Big beauty
Big passion
Big days
Big sea
Big ice
…I feel so small - and yet am learning about how powerful individuals are!
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AND, LAST IMPRESSIONS (from Chaperone Ellen Kinsel ...)
Motivation: Seeing towering glaciers surrounding mirror glass bays, hearing them crack and grown as they inch their way forward, knowing that the ice falling into the water started on its journey from the interior of the continent thousands of years before...beginnings and endings and yet part of a continuous cycle...this is so far removed even from my day to day existence that I could not escape having a "life changing experience" even at the age of 57. I have been profoundly moved by the seemingly vast emptiness that is so full of life and power. Determination: I am awestruck by the hundreds of thousands of penguins we saw. Some choose to nest right by the water's edge where they are in danger of having their eggs or chicks swept away by the tide or an unexpected big wave. Others select places high on a mountain cliff where it must take an unimaginable effort (or none at all because it is all they know) to hike up and down on stubby legs with webbed feet. I watched as they very purposefully toddled to and fro, swam fleetly, sailed in and out of the sea, and hopped onto the beach undaunted by and unafraid of the human invaders. This is true innocence.
Perspiration: The hike over Deception Island was probably the highlight of the trip for me, and yet I can barely remember the details. Many years ago someone told me that your life is just a blip of time if you truly live in the moment...it is the anticipation of the future and remembering the past that extend that blip into a lifetime. I think I now understand exactly what she was trying to convey. Deception Island was an opportunity for me to keep others going, reaching the next height and the next until we stood on the summit and were rewarded with that first glorious slide down into Whalers Bay and its silent reminder of the history of Antarctica. On the hike at Danco Island, it was Eve and Irene who returned the favour, encouraging me to get to the top.
Inspiration: Once again, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I think that I have taken from it much more than I was able to give.Spending time with people like Fred and Fletch has made Antarctica come alive in a way that reading a book could never do although I return with the desire to learn more and have already ordered more books. I want to share the experience with others and hopefully find a way to sponsor someone else. During the panel discussion related to the theme of "are we losing touch with nature?" I realized that I have made many choices in my life that have kept me very close to the natural world, and yet I don't consider myself to be a raging environmentalist by any means. I will continue to make my small contribution and encourage others to do the same.
Ellen Kinsel
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