Loon Lake🌲

“The only limiting factor to our achievement is the fear of the unknown” – John Amatt. 

Hello, welcome to my Loon Lake post! Once again we went on a field study to Loon Lake but this time for PGP (careers). That was truly an adventure. This field study was all about personal growth as well as recognizing and building leadership skills. I learned how to trust my classmates, how to build important skills, and how I can step out of my comfort zone even if I am anxious and unsure.

Workbook Activity’s:

We started off this field study by being introduced to Jono and his team. Throughout the three days we worked with his team we did different activity’s and were given a workbook to fill in along the way. The first workbook page completed a leadership assessment which helped me recognize what my strong suits were. The five sections were Challenger, Inspirer, Enabler, Modeller, and Encourager. The two sections where I got the most points were Enabler and Encourager.

The next workbook page and activity we completed that stood out to me was the Love and Passions questioning. For this activity we got into pairs and we asked each other “What do you love. The only thing was that we had to say it to one another super fast. As I was quickly answering the question over and over I didn’t have time to think so I said some random stuff.

Quote:

On the first day we were told to pick a quote out of the ones on the table. There were at least 30+ so I was unsure at first on which one I wanted to pick. I started reading a few uninterested in the words that were on the cards because to me they were just words. Then as I kept reading the quotes I was able to find one that I feel really spoke to me. This is the quote at the top of my blog post. It reads “The only limiting factor to our achievement is the fear of the unknown” -John Amatt. I felt that I was able to come back to this quote throughout every few which was a good reminder. 

Debrief Circles:

Debrief Circles

One of the many things I took away from the few days we spent with Jono and his team were the debrief circles we did after each and every activity. During these debriefs I had to step out of my comfort zone to share my thoughts and feelings on what we just did. Then by day three I feel was able to confidently volunteer my thoughts and share what I had to say.

Personal Credo:

Throughout my time at Loon Lake, I was able to recognizing strengths and goals within my experience. All the activity’s and workbook pages we completed helped me write my personal credo. At first when we were told to write about what we believe in, who you are when you show up in full power, or what gifts you give the world. I was completely stuck. I started thinking about other projects I have done in the past that relate to this. I started writing things like “I am confident and outgoing”, but that’s not me. That may be what I want to be one day, but that’s not my current self. After brainstorming and throwing ideas around with my friends I was able to come up with a sentence. “I am a committed and curious person who believes in friendships and the power of others”. I then continued to bounce some ideas around before I finally came up with my credo, and I am super happy with how it turned out. After everyone had completed their credo’s we built a circle giving people the chance to share what they wrote. One of my favourite things someone said in their credo was that they embrace discomfort which I found really spoke to me. Overall I was amazed with how much everyone’s credo’s represented them.  

Team Building Activity’s:

Marshmallow Challenge:

Marshmallow Challenge

One of the challenged we did in groups was the marshmallow challenge. This was a fun way to work within small groups to create something as a team. As we have done Destination Imagination challenges before this one came quite easily for me and my team. In this activity we went into a deeper understanding of the difference between a group and a team.  

Marshmallow Workbook Debrief

Group – A group is just people together but not collaborating. Everyone has different goals.

Team – A team is a group of people working together to achieve one common goal. In a team you are able to use everyone’s diverse skills and empower each other.

Trust Fall Activity:

Trust Fall

The week spent at loon lake definitely took me out of my comfort zone but one of the activity’s that specifically made that big stretch was the trust falls. Every morning we would to create a goal. This was something that we could and would accomplish in that day. Mine sounded a little something like “I will push myself to step out of my comfort zone by trying new things, and build my communication skills”. We started off with small trust falls gradually making the fall bigger and bigger. This really changed my point of view and helped me trust my classmates more than I ever had. Eventually we went outside and did a super high trust fall landing into the entire groups hands. I was unsure and nervous at first but after doing it once, it boosted my confidence enough to volunteer to go again.

High Ropes Course Activity:

Snowy High Ropes Course

After successfully completing the trust fall I was not very nervous to do the high ropes course. I will admit it was hard with somewhat frozen hands but I was still able to accomplish it with the support and encouragement from my friends. 

The Hike:

On our last full day at Loon Lake after Jono and his team left we got to go on a hike around the lake. I really enjoyed this and found it very peaceful. It ended up taking around two hours but I got lots of pretty photos!

In the end I feel I was able to step out of my comfort zone to achieve a whole new level of personal growth. I was able to identify strengths I didn’t know I had as well as things I would like to continue to work on like self confidence and adaptability. I was able to learn how to build goals and more importantly how to push myself to achieve them. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and I will be back with another soon!

-Makenna

P.S – If you have not already started considering the foot, you should.