Survialship by Kassidi

Survialship by Kassidi - August 2017 Scholarship Essay

If I were a college professor I would choose to teach a class on how to be a survivalist. The class would show students how to survive out in the wilderness, in catastrophic and natural disasters (such as tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, terror attacks, and diseases) and perhaps a zombie apocalypse! The class would consist of lectures, field trips, and real life experiences with "hands on" training and mock scenarios of potential devastating situations that would occur.
The first semester of the class would consist of teaching students how to survive and make it through a natural disaster. I would focus my teaching on how to take protective shelter, basic emergency medical techniques, communications, and relief efforts. Simulators, videos, and basic first aid are some of the tools I would utilize to help my students acquire skills and techniques needed to preserve and help others if a disaster were to strike. The simulator would allow students to experience the power of a storm and the fear or panic one might have if they were ever in a simulator "real life" situation.
The second semester of the class would consist of teaching students how to survive and thrive if they ever found themselves in an unusual disaster or personal crisis. Examples of these types of situations would be: getting lost in the wilderness, abduction or kidnapping, or a widespread epidemic that would eliminate an extreme portion of society. I would focus my teaching on how to adapt ourselves in any situation that we may be in. Wilderness survival training, developing a survival mindset/psychological state, and personal protection are essential skills needed. Some of the training would include plant walks, (learning the how to find and use edible and medicinal plants), camping trips to experience shelter building, proper, fire starting, and water gathering and purification, firearms, training and safety, and entrapment/bondage escape. Also learning how to use what you have with you or around you is valuable knowledge to have when supplies and necessities are scarce. Improvising items for tools, weapons, and shelter is vital for survival.
At the end of course, I would test my students on the skills and techniques they have learned by placing them in a mock survival situation where they would have to use their knowledge of the course to earn their grade. Of course safety would be of the utmost importance so crews and guides would be in place to assure that no one would be hurt or in danger.
I believe this course would be fun, interesting, and most importantly the skills you would learn would be of great value in all aspects of life. If you possess the right mindset and skills, you can survive and thrive in any situation or environment!