Have you ever considered the foot? Well you should!

Hello! Welcome to, or back to, my blog! I’ve recently come back from a field study to Loon Lake. If you don’t know what a field study is, it’s a learning opportunity where students get to go outside of the classroom and be in a new learning environment. Throughout this grade 10 PLP field study I went on a week’s long adventure where I was able to build my leadership skills in new and exciting ways.

Last year, when I was in grade 9, I previously went on a field study to Loon Lake with the grade 8’s and there was around 80+ students. This time was very different because the class size was significantly reduced and the goal of the field study was different. Throughout the grade 10 field study I went through a journey starting with a closed mindset and ending with a open mindset that accompanied a deeper understanding of my intentions. 

At the start of this journey, to my surprise, I didn’t quite realize that this experience wasn’t like the last. When I arrived at loon lake I wasn’t in the mindset I should’ve been, but this changed when we went head first into activities such as the ropes courses. The low ropes course was the first outdoor activity that was completed during this field study. To complete the low ropes course there was a obstacle that we had to face as a team. I think that this was a great introduction to how leadership skills were build over this course. There was a lot of failure, but with communication the group and I were able to form into a team and explain what techniques worked and which ones didn’t.

In addition to the aspects of building leadership this retreat had an emphasis on finding ourselves. To do this I set a goal of going outside my comfort zone to build up my confidence. An activity where this really shined was the trust fall exercise. During the day we did the trust falls I remember walking into, a cabin, the Pan-abode and doing little trust falls with a partner. We then moved to greater distances and fell into 4 people. I thought this would be the biggest length we would fall (it definitely wasn’t). When I thought we were finished I looked outside and saw a table with a chair on top of it on the deck. At that moment I knew that we were going to do a trust fall off of it. I looked around at people’s concerned faces and took a chance to show my leadership and decided to go first. This is one of the things I’m most proud of during this field study because it showed that by going outside of my comfort zone I was able to inspire other’s to follow in my footsteps. 

The other ropes course, high ropes, was similar to the low ropes course but it was, well…, high. The ropes obstacle was in the air and I was harnessed as I my made ascent. I’ve done high ropes before and wanted to stick to the idea learnt about pushing myself to do things outside of my comfort zone. Once I reach the top I decided to blindfold myself and try to reach the end of the obstacle. The way I did this was by listening to encouragement of others and applying their advice into the actions I took. By doing this I was able to make it to the end. I think this shows the importance of being an effectively responsive listener. 

To understand my goals throughout the activities we went in-dept with the meaning of leadership by listening to informative lectures and working on an insightful workbook. Within these talks and workbook activities I learnt about my EI and the traits that are important to me. We did this one activity that I felt was really important in connection to my building of leadership. In this activity I was introduced to the four core competencies of Emotional Intelligence, such as self-awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship management. We were passed around cards that had a underlying competency and we choose which one best described us. Once that happened we filled out a sheet and chose what areas we wanted to improve on. I really think this was a really important activity because I was able to recognize were I struggle in emotional intelligence. With this recognition I can evaluate the situations I’m in to figure out what part of EI I need to use.  

Also, we created a poster about the things that represent us. This poster was important throughout the week because each day we would write a positive thing about something on their poster. This seems like a cheesy thing to do, but honestly I enjoyed and appreciated it.

In addition to the workbook activities I was tasked with created a credo. What is a credo? You may ask… well a credo is a statement of belief to guide the actions of someone. The credo I create took many drafts to create. Within this revision process I got feedback from peers and myself, through the different actions I took. When I felt my credo was finished I created it into a wallpaper. 

After the creation of my credo I made another self-motivating piece of media, my personal logo. This logo was very similar to my credo because it showed the version of myself that I want to be but in symbolic form. To create my logo I used Keynote and tried to think of ways to include the defined parts of me. I ended up creating a lightning bolt to show my energy, a mountain to show how I uplift, a crown to show success and a L to show leadership. 

By the end of this journey I realized that I was more intentional and aware with my actions. I learnt how leadership isn’t just taking charge, it’s many more things. Leadership is the actions you take to ensure you are bringing the best out in yourself and others. I think that this Loon Lake leadership experience has boosted my confidence, collaboration, and communication. I truly think this experience will change my lifestyle.

Now… Ask yourself ‘What’s my credo?’ (Trust me it’s beneficial to create one). Thanks for reading!

Alicia 😀

 

Credit:

*image credit intro – Makenna

*image credit 1 – Faith

*image credit 1&4 – Fraser

*image credit 2&3 – Ms.Willemse

Special thanks to Pinnacle Pursuits!