Nothing to fear, but fear itself...
This week the Student Life staff took our leadership students (RAs, Chaplains, and SGA) to Camp Lurecrest on Lake Lure in Asheville, NC. We had a great time bonding and learning about being leaders.
Two activities in particular stretched me as a leader and a person. I am not what you would call a risk-taker. I enjoy roller coasters and hiking and being outdoors, but the thought of jumping off of something very high and trusting someone will be there to catch you is just not something I'm that into normally. One of the first activities my group did was called the "King Swing." The point was to get harnessed in to a rope hanging from what looked like telephone cables about 40 feet in the air and have your team pull you up to where you yourself are about 40 feet in the air. Then, you count to three, signaling them to let go of their rope while you simultaneously pull your rip cord and go swinging out over their heads. It was insane! The swinging part at the end was pretty fun, but the split second of freefall right at the beginning? Not so much.
The second activity we did was the aptly named "Leap of Faith." For this one, you got harnessed in and were working with a kind of pulley system. You had to climb a 30 foot telephone pole (about 6 inches in diameter) while your team held on to the ropes below, ready to support you if you stumbled or fell. So, you climb to the top of this pole and then have to stand up on top. You have nothing to pull yourself up and nothing to hold on to once you're there. Oh yeah, and the pole is extremely wobbly! So, you're standing up there and you have to turn 180 degrees so you can take a flying leap off the pole and try to catch a trapeze bar hanging out in front. Insane, right? But I got up there and jumped off anyway! I didn't come close to catching the bar, but at that point I didn't even really care!
The Leap of Faith was the one that was so scary and intimidating to me, but I'm so proud that I faced my fear and went through with it. I wasn't sure about it when we first saw it, but I had this little voice in my head asking "How will you be able to tell someone else to take a risk if you're not taking one yourself?" That activity was also the one where you really had to rely on the encouragement of your team to get you over the obstacle of fear. It was so scary, but so awesome in the end.
If you're in the mood for a laugh, you can see pictures of me doing these two things on my photo blog. And you don't have to mention how dorky that helmet looks...Paul already pointed it out! :)
Two activities in particular stretched me as a leader and a person. I am not what you would call a risk-taker. I enjoy roller coasters and hiking and being outdoors, but the thought of jumping off of something very high and trusting someone will be there to catch you is just not something I'm that into normally. One of the first activities my group did was called the "King Swing." The point was to get harnessed in to a rope hanging from what looked like telephone cables about 40 feet in the air and have your team pull you up to where you yourself are about 40 feet in the air. Then, you count to three, signaling them to let go of their rope while you simultaneously pull your rip cord and go swinging out over their heads. It was insane! The swinging part at the end was pretty fun, but the split second of freefall right at the beginning? Not so much.
The second activity we did was the aptly named "Leap of Faith." For this one, you got harnessed in and were working with a kind of pulley system. You had to climb a 30 foot telephone pole (about 6 inches in diameter) while your team held on to the ropes below, ready to support you if you stumbled or fell. So, you climb to the top of this pole and then have to stand up on top. You have nothing to pull yourself up and nothing to hold on to once you're there. Oh yeah, and the pole is extremely wobbly! So, you're standing up there and you have to turn 180 degrees so you can take a flying leap off the pole and try to catch a trapeze bar hanging out in front. Insane, right? But I got up there and jumped off anyway! I didn't come close to catching the bar, but at that point I didn't even really care!
The Leap of Faith was the one that was so scary and intimidating to me, but I'm so proud that I faced my fear and went through with it. I wasn't sure about it when we first saw it, but I had this little voice in my head asking "How will you be able to tell someone else to take a risk if you're not taking one yourself?" That activity was also the one where you really had to rely on the encouragement of your team to get you over the obstacle of fear. It was so scary, but so awesome in the end.
If you're in the mood for a laugh, you can see pictures of me doing these two things on my photo blog. And you don't have to mention how dorky that helmet looks...Paul already pointed it out! :)
posted by Michelle at 11:58 AM
1 Comments:
WOW...what a great idea to do with your staff. We did a high and low ropes course in Clemson. BUT--it would be great to take my staff to do something like that for Spring Training...could you send me the price/budget you spent on this event?
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