Daviawoulard15's Blog

Our class.

Last, Monday instead of meeting at our normal location we went to the RAC to do a Ropes course. Truthfully I wasn’t too excited about being outdoors doing God knows what.lol.  That day was so busy for me I didn’t get out of my class until five and still had to go over to the RAC. I considered just not going at all, but Im glad I did! The first activity I participated in was the Human Knot Challenge. This was very interesting each person had to grab the hand of the person opposite of you creating a HUGE knot. Well our team was a little slow, and we ended up creating an even bigger knot than what we started with. Through each activity I learned a little more about myself and my classmates. I found the individuals in our class to be very helpful, inventive, and fun to be around. We all tried to pull together as a team which was the purpose of the course. Eventhough, I already knew this about myself but it was way more evident during one of the tasks how independent and strongwilled I am. For one activity they blind folded us and we were told trying to get through the course, but there was no talking except to ask 2 questions. 1. Am I going in the right direction? 2. Can I have help? The second question was the key to the whole challenge ASK FOR HELP!!  All I had to do was ask for help and I would have been out of the maze of ropes.  This really showed me how many times I try to figure things out on my own instead of just asking for help.

This experience had alot to do with our FYE class. The purpose of our class is to make connections with people either verbally, through the internet, or nonverbally. The ropes course forced us to work as a unit and really pushed me out of my comfort zone.  The course showed me how much we are similar but that we are all different and when we combine all our ideas we can come to a solution. I believe our class would benefit greatly if we took the course again. The course really taught me how to work as a team there are so many components to teamwork that were evident through the experience. I think the most important components that will benefit our class the most are listening, compromise,leadership as well as followship, and fun.

I believe the ropes course will help me alot in my interaction with people.  There was much more to the ropes course other than the actual physical activity. I believe the most important thing I will take from this activity is the importance of communication. For example, for one  task the WHOLE class was standing on one log and the task was to arrange ourselves by our favorite animal from smallest to largest on the log, but there was NO TALKING!!  The only sounds that could be made was the sounds of the animal. Communication was very important in order for our class to arrange ourselves and I think I will talk this component from the experience. I feel that in any circumstance if there is good communication the task at hand can be accomplished, and how we communicate with people is an essential skill that will effect the rest of our lives.  I believe the ROPES course helped me understand the importance of teamwork, communication, and how to have fun with new EXPERIENCES!!!:)