Passion for the outdoors leads girl to diploma in adventure
Zarreen Loke said that outdoor adventures have helped her in learning more about her own capabilities. PHOTO: ZARREEN LOKE
SINGAPORE — By age 5, she had scaled her first mountain, Mount Ophir, with her family. When she was in secondary school, treks along the 10km trail at the Southern Ridges were a weekly family affair for Zarreen Loke.
With a passion for outdoor activities running in her blood, Ms Loke, 20, who will be graduating from Republic Polytechnic with a diploma in outdoor and adventure learning this year, aspires to be a physical education teacher. She is among 4,700 RP graduands this year; among the school’s biggest cohort.
“When we were younger, my father was the one who sort of planned it for us. We went for all the kayaking courses and sports climbing courses together,” said Ms Loke.
Her sister Sheereen, 24, also graduated from the same course in 2012, while their father Mikael Loke, 53, attained a specialist diploma in the course that same year.
“Having had some experience in tutoring, I realise that being able to witness the changes in progress (of students), as well as meeting and interacting with many different people is definitely enjoyable and worth the time and effort made in teaching,” she said.
She added that she has to let students know that beyond academics, outdoor and physical education are also important.
Ms Loke said outdoor adventures have helped her in self-discovery and learning more about her capabilities.
“It develops a person’s character traits ... outdoor education does that more effectively.”
She recalled a hike up Mount Kinabalu in 2013 with her family as especially memorable, as she “experienced altitude sickness for the first time”. She also had to find it within her to push on in the last 100m to the summit despite wanting to give up mentally. “I love the thrill and excitement that I get from outdoor activities.”
Ms Loke said her favourite activity during her course was kayaking because of the skills that she learnt, including sideways paddling and rescuing paddlers who had fallen in the water. She also savours the challenge posed by the constantly changing tides.
In her penultimate semester, she went for a four-month internship at Higher Ground, an Australian outdoor education centre in Tuchekoi, Queensland. She also spent her final semester planning an outdoor programme for children with autism from Rainbow Centre Singapore.
On the Government’s decision to make Outward Bound Singapore camps mandatory for all Secondary 3 students from 2020, Ms Loke expressed envy as she had not attended the programme before.
“The students are very fortunate. They can meet so many people. They can learn skills like outdoor cooking, navigation, and they learn how to be independent and take care of themselves,” she said.
She believes that going through the experience at an age when they start forming their own views will allow students “to witness the importance of the environment and to understand how shaping up one’s character can contribute to the future”.
