Becoming Fearless: Conquering the Ropes Course
“Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.” We realize that fear is a huge motivator of people. It can motivate us to take action or it can motivate us to sit still and live in the fear. At FSL, we challenge students to recognize that their fears do not control them. We use the different rotations at Summit, FSL’s 300-acre educational training center, to help students face their fears, conquer challenges, and reinforce FSL’s Core Values (respect, responsibility, integrity, sacrifice, and courage).
Through experiential learning opportunities, students, educators, and groups can come to Summit, be trained, and take the FSL model back to their communities all over America, thus continuing the ripple effect of cultural change. Our state-of-the-art ropes course is, perhaps, the biggest attraction at Summit. With over 38 elements and challenges, students are not just climbing around on a ropes course. Working as a team on some elements and working alone on others, students are encouraging each other the entire time. Not only are students given opportunities they might not otherwise have, they walk away realizing they are capable of accomplishing far more than they have ever imagined.
You see, it’s not about the ropes or the challenges, it’s about what the students feel while they are participating in these activities. Again, fear is a huge motivator of people. Students can take their fears, whether it be fear of heights, fear of failure, fear of taking risks, fear of relying on others, and apply it to the ropes course. After they conquer the ropes course, what CAN’T they do?! This is the mentality we want every student to have when they walk away from all of our rotations.
Too many times, students hear that they are not good enough, that they are not capable enough, that they are not going to amount to anything. We don’t accept that and we believe it is our duty to help these students believe in their limitless potential.
Our students are incredible. Our students are going to do great things. Our students are going to change the world. Many students begin to realize these things while experiencing Summit.
Students, educators, youth groups, and others can utilize Summit throughout the year. To learn more about Summit or to schedule a tour, please visit the Summit page on our website!
