For the first of this year’s semi-annual tradition of the ironically named Sexism Day, the girls enjoyed a peaceful day at the Cougar Hot Springs Reservoir.
Every year, typically twice a year, we split up; all guys and all girls, and we each agree on an activity that we can all enjoy, and use to bond with our community members of the same gender. This trip I was lucky to get to experience the beauty of the natural hot springs, set in the green forest of Willamette Valley.
The guys enjoyed a relaxing morning of video games and music, with a deluxe breakfast prepared by our very own Wellsprings Chefs, Bob and Tyler. They then grabbed a bus to see the new production of Zombieland. I can’t speak from personal experience, due to my being a female, but I have been told that they all enjoyed the day.
Now, I can speak for us girls. We had a great time! We were lucky enough to have the pools nearly all to ourselves, except for a couple of short time visitors. Quite a few of us, including myself, enjoyed a natural mud facial, and a few dare devils dunked in the freezing water before returning to the hot spring water. In my opinion though, the best, was the cave. There was a decent size opening in the rocks that fed the hot water down to the ladder of pools. A bunch of us girls were able to crawl up into the cave that it opened up to, where the heat was magnified so much, we could see steam lingering around us, but there was also a constant trickle of cold water which balanced the heat out wonderfully. It was probably just about one of the coolest things I have done in years.
I think that sexism day is definitely a fun and influential part of the Wellsprings experience. It is just another way that Wellsprings helps to become comfortable with your self as a part of a community. By partaking in these kinds of activities, it makes it easier for us all to develop a connection, or some kind of relationship with our classmates and teachers alike. I think that this is very important, and I feel like we all benefit a lot from these unique connections. I am looking forward to our next sexism event. I’m sure it will be a blast!###
