Elon Periclean Scholars Class of 2017 Spends a Day the Challenge Course!

This past Saturday the class of 2017 paid a visit to the Elon Challenge Course for four hours of communicating, listening, and bonding. We learned a lot about each other and about ourselves, especially when it comes to effective cooperation methods.

We were split into pairs for one of the first activities we did, Follow the Leader. The first time, one person in the pair was blindfolded, while the other person had to speak to them, telling them where to go and what to do without touching them, in order to keep up with the Leader, one of our Campus Rec guides. The second time, the other person in the pair was blindfolded and the other person, instead of speaking to them, could only use their hands to lead them, which was especially difficult when the Leader wanted them to skip! This activity demonstrated to us how communication methods are mostly dependent upon the person and can be easier or more difficult for different people.

After our group was split in two, both teams did a series of team building exercises. One of our favorites was The Wall, an activity in which the team had to figure out how to get every person up and over a giant 12′ wall without equipment. Both teams, although we did the activity separately, had the same strategy. First, each team had two people lifting another taller person so that they could reach the top edge of the wall and hoist themselves up and over to stand on the platform on the other side. After that, the person at the top of the wall would grab the wrists of the person being lifted and help pull them up and over. From then on, two people stood on the platform at the top and would help lift the person trying to get up the wall. The most challenging part was at the end, when the final person had to get up the wall without two people to lift him or her. Both teams had the tallest person left at the end, and that person jumped while someone at the top of the wall grabbed their wrists and pulled them up. This activity showed us that even daunting obstacles are surmountable when you take the time to plan accordingly.

All in all, the Challenge Course was a valuable experience for our class because it provided a lot of insight into communication, teamwork, and effort. We can’t wait to put what we learned to the test in class and we look forward to more bonding in the future!

Post-Challenge Course group photo!

Post-bonding group photo!

photo

Annie gets over the wall with the help of her team!

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