Positive Choices: Powerful Outcomes!
WOW! My experience at RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) was unforgettable. This program generated high personal satisfaction, in terms of receiving the tools and skills needed for me to grow as a leader.
Last week was extremely engaging, as we were constantly faced with new and exciting challenges. I must say it was an overwhelming experience but the friendships built and the knowledge gained to be an effective leader has initiated change in my eyes. Learning the different behavior styles and their key characteristics will improve the effectiveness of my interactions with others.
OK, so now for the fun stuff. During my week at RYLA we did lots of activities. One I want to share pretty much sums up everything I learned that week. It is called Blind Polygon (I think).
So there were 27 RYLA participants we are all in a circle blindfolded in the gym. Each person had to hold onto the rope with both hands and were not allowed to remove them. We were only allowed to drag our hands up and down the rope. Our task was to create a square blindfolded! Crazy eh?! Well once we were given the go ahead to start, we soon realized the rope was tangled and this was going to be harder than we thought.
Now you are probably wondering what the point of this activity was …..well we had to use all of the skills we learned about during RYLA: communication skills which include active listening (extremely hard for some behavioural styles), team work, controlling stress levels, reaction to change, and learn how to prioritize demands. This was the most challenging task of all. I am pretty sure everyone was extremely frustrated with one another by the end of this activity but it was a perfect example to best describe our learning of the week.
So that’s pretty much it for me. This was an experience of a lifetime and Rotary also offers many other adventures like this one, (i.e. University Exchange).
If anyone wants more information see previous post or contact me via careers@loyalistc.on.ca
Get involved, you can create change in anything you do!
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