During the fall of my junior year, I was a student leader for the Honors Annual Fall Retreat for incoming students entering the Honors Program. This retreat includes many activities such as fun icebreakers to get to know one another, breakout sessions to learn about the three competencies, information sessions focused on the perks of Honors and how to get involved on campus, and finally, a cookout with delicious food where all Honors students are invited to join. I was assigned to be a leader for the research competency with two other Honors students, Michaela and Marissa. To be prepared for this event, we met twice prior to the retreat to discuss what activity we would do to best demonstrate the competency of research along with what questions to ask the students to help them understand what research really means. We decided to do the NASA exercise called "Survival on the Moon," which can be found below, and asked several questions about how this activity related to research. We then decided to ask the students if they had any idea how they would fulfill the research competency and ended by sharing our own personal experiences with research and our undergraduate research projects. Overall, I believe our individual breakout session went very smoothly, and the students seemed to be interested in the activity we picked out, for they willingly collaborated with one another and asked great questions. I think the students also appreciated hearing about upperclassmen' research projects, for they seemed to be more relieved about the often daunting research competency after we explained our own experiences with research and how it isn't so bad when one divides it into steps. I was pleased with how my part of this retreat went, and it was great to be able to help incoming students feel more relaxed and capable of succeeding in the Honors Program and college in general.
It is important to note, however, that this retreat did not go exactly as planned. Due to miscommunication, the majority of the students did not show up until almost two hours later as originally planned in the schedule. As a result, all of us student leaders had to be flexible and shorten the amount of time spent on each activity. Although this worked out just fine for the most part, it was a bit overwhelming to have a sudden change in events because of uncontrollable circumstances. I think this was a great experience for me, though, because it was a reminder that not everything always goes as planned, and as a leader, it is important to be adaptable and make modifications when needed. As I have stated previously, I believe this is one of my weaknesses, so having the opportunity to practice flexibility in a real life situation may have been exactly what I needed. I learned that almost always things will still turn just fine as long as one keeps a positive attitude and remembers the overall goal of the event instead of focusing on the tiny details that do not have as much significance. I think it is also important to be able to look back at the experience and reflect on what can be changed to make the event better the next time around, and I have no doubt that the Honors students and faculty will do this for the next retreat.
Through this experience, I believe I fulfilled Levels 2 and 3 of Teams. Level 2 involves “practices group member skills and abilities to work together toward a common goal.” Working with Michaela and Marissa in planning the breakout session for the research competency went extremely well because we each used our strengths to reach our goal of having the attending students enjoy the activity and better understand the research competency by asking critical questions and sharing our own experiences. When executing our plan with the students, we always stayed on task and helped one another when needed, but also respected each other’s independence when leading a conversation. I think Michaela, Marissa, and I worked so well together because of our different leadership strengths that we applied, always respecting one another and treating one another as equals, and keeping in mind the purpose of what we were doing: helping other students learn about research and be someone they can look up to. Although we never clearly defined our roles within our group, Michaela, Marissa, and I each incorporated our strengths and unique ways of leading to result in a successful team. Michaela was a great asset to the team because she thought of all the tiny details of the activity that could be easy to leave out, such as how much time to spend on each part of the activity and how we would take turns leading the students in each session. Marissa was also wonderful because she kept detailed notes of everything we discussed and helped us keep in mind the big picture of having fun and making sure the students were learning something. Finally, I believe I applied my leadership strengths by making sure we stayed on task during our meetings, initiating the communication between the group, and asking the tougher questions, such as, "Do we really think this will work, or will we have enough time for this?" By each doing what we did best, even with undefined roles, we were a successful team. Thus, I have met Level 3 of Teams, “reflects upon roles within group and team settings.”