Wampee Overnight Retreat

Orientation was a little over 3 weeks ago and Class 34 is already off to an excellent start with multiple volunteer projects and hours under our belts. We didn’t bother wasting anytime, which is definitely a sign of things to come.

I think we were all looking forward to the Retreat as we had heard over and over again about the great experiences everyone had there in the past. Even though we weren’t all fully acquainted yet, it was great to pull up to the site and see that so many classmates had carpooled together. This really kick started our experience as the 2 hour journey south gave us a little extra time to get to know one another.

Things moved along quickly as we segued right into Welcomes from Diana and the Board of Regents and then stepped outside to enjoy the beautiful view (and weather) for an ice breaking session with a trivia ball. We spent the next 48 hours learning about ourselves (and each other) through the SELF profile testing, leadership training with Eileen Soisson, break out PODS sessions (People Openly Discussing Stuff), feasting on each fabulous meal that the awesome staff at Wampee put out for us, and listening to Lifeline presentations. We did pretty good on our "Acid River" team building exercise too, finishing in just under an hour. Not bad considering the course was made to be more difficult this year AND we had more people than previous classes did.

Eileen’s enthusiasm as a trainer was evident from the start and she did a great job of keeping us engaged and intrigued. The lifelines were the highlight of the trip – each of us had approximately 10 minutes to share their life stories with everyone. We were encouraged to be creative and the class sure produced! We saw everything from homemade crafts, to shopping cart and hat props, to picture boards and some even made us yummy treats J  I think the whole class would agree that this gave us an opportunity to really connect with each other and we had no choice but to be vulnerable in a room full of strangers.

In the midst of all of this “work” (if you can really call it that) we made time for some fun at our social gathering Sunday night. Laughs were had, ghost stories were shared and refrigerators were raided to satisfy some late night ice cream cravings.  All-in-all, this retreat was a one of a kind experience that none of us will forget.

Acid River Team Builder

Class 34 Gearing Up for a Leadership Training Session