Not unexpectedly, the group got every through The Porthole leaving Darla on the original side by herself. The members of the group didn’t make fun of her, but she was a bit invisible to them. She had some developmental disabilities and was larger, older than the rest of the group. The biggest challenge of The Porthole is getting the last person through as there is no one to boost that person up to get through The Porthole. The group must create a plan that takes participant physical ability and size to lift, pass, and spot participants in order to get them through. The objective is to cross from one side of the porthole to the other. The Porthole is constructed by suspending a tire between poles or trees. One of the last activities was the porthole. The group worked well together as is evident in this photo: These were all glorious, aha moments, but the biggest glorious, aha moment occurred for me when we spent an afternoon doing the team building course. I keep thinking how engaging and exciting these learning activities were and continual wondered why public school couldn’t be like this. We learned history by visiting an old, local cemetery to study the family lineage and by making our own butter and ice cream like the pioneers did.
![student aha moment student aha moment](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/83/88/63/8388631cb2daef7cbd78348ba1bce83f.jpg)
We learned biology by walking through a stream and collecting water samples to view under a microscope. All of the learning activities we did had experiential components. It was an amazing, life changing experience for me and hopefully for the kids in our group. My co-counselor, Eric, and I were given a 6th grade group. As a requirement for the course, we were asked to be counselors at an outdoor education center, where students from local public schools spend five days at the residential center. The power of hands-on, experiential, and authentic learning was reinforced during my senior year of my undergraduate studies. I begin my story by relating to my summer camp experiences as powerful learning and my school ones as being a big, long blur. I'd never realized that we have the ability to choose where to place our attention and, by doing so, relieve our suffering and bring more joy into our lives." - Toni Bernhard, J.D.Since I have very strong convictions about what constitutes a “good” education, I am often asked how I got to this place of thinking. Or, I could choose not to feed those grievances and, instead, turn my attention to the lovely time people were having right at this moment and to the love I feel for my family. I could choose continue to go over my "list of grievances" which did nothing but make me more and more unhappy.
![student aha moment student aha moment](https://2459dz48xjs71g39w44v2we4-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9376.jpg)
As I stayed in that little locked "prison," I suddenly realized that I had a choice.
![student aha moment student aha moment](https://www.rowanblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/DSC_6831-1-683x1024.jpg)
My mood turned so sour and dark, that I took myself off to the restroom so people wouldn't see my unhappiness. But soon that enjoyment turned to envy and resentment as I began to ruminate about all the fun I'd be missing after I left, especially at the "adult" party that my son and daughter-in-law had planned for later. When I got to the party, at first I was enjoying myself. Due to chronic illness, I could only stay for an hour or so. Choosing where to place attention. "Two years ago, I had an "aha" moment at a birthday party for my young granddaughter, Camden.