Adventure Week: Challenge Course

[fblike] Aaron Brzowski

Preflight Check: Initiated.
Class of 2015 Accounted For: True.
Community Leaders Present: True.
Challenge Course Prepared: True.
Absence of uncertainty: False.
Preflight Check: Completed.
Launch.

It began as a day of uneasy feelings and a semi-willingness to learn to trust your fellow student. Eyes open, heads roll over to see the time. Some heads roll back over and eyes shut again to gain just a few more precious minutes of rest. Groggy-eyed and slightly irritated, the Class of 2015 and their senior Community Leaders piled onto buses and embarked into the unknown. The words “team building” by this point had been tossed around by Administration as much as an Ultimate Frisbee in the Colonnades, but no one knew that this exercise would strengthen not only the students as a unit, but also the students as an individuals. Activities ranged from small group activities to entire school activities spanning the clearing in the woods of the WKU Challenge Course. As an observer and leader, the element of the experience I most enjoyed witnessing (and occasionally participating in) was the personal bonds being created between classmates. One look and one could see the elation in a student’s eyes when someone responded in kind to a proclaimed thought such as: “Dr. Who is my favorite show!” or “I’ve played League of Legends for years!” Student will value these bonds through their Academy (and post Academy) experiences. Experiencing the woods with your peers is definitely beneficial as an activity to boost interconnected working, but what I feel is most beneficial is self-rediscovery when surrounded by accepting, intelligent, like-minded individuals.