Ken Muñoz
Staff writer
As a group of anxious freshmen gathered in the Parmer Atrium on Friday, Sept. 8th, student workers from the Student Involvement Resource Center prepared to lead some of DU’s emerging leaders on a retreat to a campsite near Lake Geneva, WI. Here, approximately 50 of Dominican’s ambitious students would become role models, setting the path for a future embroidered in excellency.
Following an extensive bus ride through interstates, forests, and dark roadways, the retreat goers unpacked their belongings upon reaching OWLS — The Outdoor Wisconsin Leadership School — and settled into the first of many sessions regarding the meaning of leadership.
Prior to leaving campus, every student was given a few items that would be necessary for the weekend. Among these necessities was a folder that contained each student’s personalized strength report. This strength report was taken from the CliftonStrengths online assessment — a brief examination made from the work of Psychologist Dr. Donald O. Clifton. This assessment served as a reference from which students could pinpoint their strengths in leadership and personality for use in a later workshop.
Despite the provision of these items, there was plenty of time spent out of the books and in the woods. Students were divided into four groups of roughly fifteen students each with two SIRC leaders and one OWLS leader to guide them through several leadership building activities that took place outdoors.
Each retreatant was able to explore the meaning of leadership and challenge themselves through set activities including trust falls, group problem solving, and a high ropes course 35 feet in the air.
One problem solving activity had all four groups split in half. Each mini-group was isolated around the perimeter of a large field into makeshift islands (a rope placed on the grass in a circle) and was tasked with transporting the group onto a larger island in the center of the field. The catch was that if any member of the group touched grass outside of a rope boundary, the entire group had to restart, and that they could only move using tools at hand, which consisted of 2×4’s with ropes attached, long wooden planks, short pvc pipes, and small platforms embedded into the floor.
The viral game of “The Floor is Lava” taught retreatants valuable lessons of cooperation, communication, and patience.
One challenge in particular pitted two groups at one time against a flat 15 foot-tall wall, where students were given the help of nothing but each others’ raw strength to push and support one another up the face of the wall.
These activities, combined with self-reflective journaling and group discussion, made for a retreat that fostered both inspiration and motivation for Dominican incoming wave of young leaders. Do not be surprised to see new clubs or organizations pop up as a result of empowered students tackling an urge to become leaders.
kmunoz@my.dom.edu