Student Success: Stretching Her Abilities

BreeAnna Fletcher, Recreation Therapy Intern

I take a student rock climbing every week.  She is getting to a point where the routes she is climbing are really stretching her abilities.  
 
At one point while climbing a difficult route, the student stopped climbing and said, "There's nothing to hold on to."  I tried to help her come up with new creative solutions to climb a little higher.  This made me think of the empowerment statement, "I can do hard things."  She got a little higher on the wall, but when she still struggled she asked to come down.  

 When she was back on the ground, I asked her about her strengths and weaknesses (because of the empowerment statement "I know how my strengths and weaknesses affect my life.")  I asked "What are you doing well? or What are you doing better now than when you started rock climbing a few weeks ago?"  She thought of a few things she is doing well.  Then I asked what she could do better.  By breaking down her strengths and weaknesses the student was able to set clear goals for what she wanted to accomplish and continue to try hard things for the rest of the day rock climbing.  

As she is learning to rock climb, I will continue to remind her the skills to do hard things in rock climbing are the same skills to do hard things in life!  I know how my strengths and weaknesses affect my life!