Part one of RYLA..

It occurred to me after posting that last blog on 'leadership' that i haven't really reflected on my RYLA journey. So this post and the ones following are dedicated to that amazing experience, to all my fellow Rylarians and to all the coaches, and inspiring people who made this experience worth it's while.

On April 14th 2013, i set off alone from Hamilton to the Epworth camp site, out near Karapiro, i was pretty nervous to say the least but still pretty excited. I love being put in a situation where nobody knows anyone, and that's pretty much how the first day of RYLA was. I was expecting to be there alot earlier than i was but rocked on up right on 1030am. I was greeted immediately by Rotarians at the entrance followed by two other RYLA participants, whom each gave me a high five and a handshake. I felt like i was in the right place within the first five minutes of being there. It was great!

Moving indoors, morning tea was being served, as well as an ice breaker game to get the ball rolling or at least us new rylarians talking - and it sure worked. A welcome and introduction followed this activity followed by a few leadership workshops. After lunch we were advised to get into our 'rubix cube' colours aka orange, blue, green, red, white and yellow. I had absolutely no idea why, but not long after we met back in the hall we all found out. Small initiatives and name games kick started the afternoon followed by the creation of our groups, which then led to a small team building challenge and whole group challenge. The afternoon ended there and everyone had a bit of down time to set up cabins, dinner and get ready for the evening activity of rock n' roll. A laugh no doubt by most at the first thought of this and very much out of MY comfort zone. I have a personal bubble, am quite uncoordinated but here i was having to dance with someone i'd only just met, and in front of many others...kinda! Following our rock n roll dancing, the game 'spoons' began, as did Ninja destruction - talk about a competitive bunch of young people. I knew that evening as i lay in my bed reflecting on the day that it really was going to be a great week.

Monday arrived and we didn't have to rise too early, a hearty breakfast was served and the groups were split into two. The red team (my team) and a few other groups stayed at camp and worked on public speaking. We had to write a 1-2min speech, get up in front of our audience and say it. Easy you think? Not for everyone. For me, saying speeches are a strength of mine, but writing them and learning them in 5 minutes, not so much. I ended up picking an experience i knew really well and pretty much said it impromptu. That wasn't the point of the activity, as imprompt speeches were next on the list. Oops. But it was fine, and i was able to still learn key factors about each speech i did, as well as watch and learn from others. After lunch the groups who were on camp headed out to high ropes. For me, high ropes is where i really felt our team 'clicked'. I was just blown away by how well we got on, the support and encouragement we had for each other and just the fear and excitement in all our faces throughout the afternoon. We really did bond. Each of us had our own strengths and different confidence levels. Our instructor also saw this and set challenges for each of us according to our ability. My most memorable moment at high ropes was when i went up the 'multi vine' blind folded with Tori behind me. I accepted the challenge to be blindflded as i knew it would test my limits and confidence as well as have to rely solely on my team members below me, and Tori to the side of me. I remember so clearly this challenge, i was so nervous. Each step and movement i took i had to listen to the team calling out below. The idea of multivine is to grab the rope in front of you and hand/throw it to the next person in line. For me, a challenge itself was reaching the rope in front 'blinded' but also being able to pass it to Tori without it swinging all over the place. This activity couldn't have made me feel more proud to be a red team member. I successfully walked across the wire completely blindfolded, grabbing all ropes and throwing them to Tori (all but one swung haywire), and i simply could not have done this without the help from the rest of the red team. So to Stew, Jordan, Rach, Tori and Shannon - you guys really were my rock that day and we got so far as a team through our team building, through communication, support, encouragement and guidance. Thank you so much! The high fives and hugs following that activity was what really made me realise we had done it TOGETHER! *hand hugs all round*

Following our jam packed day of public speaking and high ropes aka team bonding, we had another challenge post dinner. RYLA Masterchef 2013... Something new for the programme and it sure was a hit! Each group member was given a task to complete and together as a group the idea was to create a meal for the judges, a creative name, a poster, and it needed to be 'sold' to the guests by a waiter/waitress. This was a fun activity that took place over a couple of hours and each team created very different ideas, posters and 'sold' there meal with either humour or seriousness. The judging panel found it hard to declare a winner, so each category had different winners.It was a great end to such a jam packed day. Many of the rylarians were feeling the busyness of the day and headed in for an early night, while others played poker, spoons or ninja destruction. We all wondered what was in store for us on the Tuesday...