There is No "I" in Team

On Monday our school went to Norval to all come together to learn fundamentals such as trust, team building, listening, and leadership. We started our day off by joining the two classes together and experiencing Inuit Blanket Toss. We all gathered around a blanket with handles going along the edge. One person would lay flat, with arms crossed in the centre of the blanket while everyone else, eager, would lift the blanket causing the victim to fly into the air. It would only work, if everyone synced together to pull on the count of three. This gave me a complete rush of adrenaline and made me want to re-live that unique experience once more.

We then headed towards a 14 foot wall, that we somehow had to get over. The wall had no source of objects to grab, it was just 14 feet of solid wood. In my mind i was thinking, you must have to be kidding! How were we going to ALL get up the wall within 30 minutes, by just using our bodies and brains? Then it also occurred to me that half of our grade was standing before the wall, each with their own ideas waiting to shout them out. To solve this problem, we all took turns, listened, as well as having Will as a leader, then turned our plans into actions.

We figured out a system to get over the wall. All they needed was the first victim to go up the wall. Guess who went? Me. Slowly but surely, i climbed onto the knees of my classmates, still wondering how on earth i was going to make it up and over the wall that stood before me. They raised me up, and with every inch, i got closer to gripping the top of the wall. Finally my hands clasped the top. Within the rest of the thirty minutes, our whole class got over the barrier using teamwork, and trust.

Our last activity before lunch, included three possibly four lucky people that got to be harnessed to four ropes that their peers were gripping onto. The person being belayed, had to retrieve various balls located within the blades of grass. We all had to work together and use our heads to figure out which ropes to pull, and which to give slack. Using the right combination's, we helped the person to redeem the balls. The only suggestion i would have for next year, is that we would ALL be able to enjoy the activity, instead of just 3-4 people.

After we reflected on the two activities, we had lunch outside, followed by a special drum circle. We entered the building, everyone roused up to begin tapping the drum that lay in front of them. Without saying many words, the leader of the drum circle got the whole student body, including the teachers, to become one voice. We expressed our self through music, and created different rhythms by simply tapping the drum all on the same beat. It sounded amazing when we got it right!

In conclusion, the day left us with much to think and reflect on. It definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone (climbing a 14 foot wall isn't exactly what i like to do in my spare time). As well as brought our grade closer together in sense that I could trust them more than before. We all learned that together, we can accomplish "the impossible", and there is in fact no "i" in team.