The first morning began in a rush. Everyone wanted to have a sturdy breakfast before the day ahead. The students had already met each other but today was the day for them to really get to know one another. There was uncertainty in the air; “What is my ‘YFCD’ team like? How are we going to work together?” The students gathered to hear the inspiring words of Prof. Adrian Johnson and after that we took off for the forest. We were headed to a part of the woods called The Elephant, the students were curious to know where the name came from. Guesses ranged from roaming elephants to just a random name. Luckily, they would soon find out!
The Elephant rock in Fontainebleau (FBL)
The adventure began with a silent birthday game – the students had to reorder themselves by date of birth on a plank without saying a word or touching the floor.
Each of the 8 teams had to shuffle around on their planks. First one to finish gets a head start!
From there we grabbed color coded helmets and harnesses – Safety first! Then we got handed a map and a compass and we were off! The students had to navigate the dense forests without much help from the guides or the counselors. Mastery of the map and a compass came in handy here, but it was all about teamwork. Every team went their own way and had their own clues to follow. These clues took the team to different challenges,
Climbing:
Communication is key: more experienced climbers could guide less confident students.
Absailing:
Slacklining:
Team Fluo taking turns at the zipline: the farther you go, the more points you get. Patience and trial-and-error is encouraged. Students were also running agains time to earn the most points.
Ziplining:
Team yellow showing their ingenuity at setting up a safe way across the ‘grand canyon’
Once everyone made their way back to the base camp, it was time for a final competition between the teams: a ‘ski’ race. Each team had to synchronise their left and right steps together to be able to move forward. The winning team of course was the one who fully crossed the finish line first.
After the adventure it was time to reflect on what we had learned. Everyone grabbed some drinks and snacks as well as some paper and pens. They had 10 minutes to draw 3 things they learned throughout the day´s exercises about how they work as a group. All the points from the activities were added up, revealing that Charlie and his red team finished first, winning their own box of candy!
A quick bus ride back allowed everyone to have a shower before they headed back to the Amphitheatre for a quick, anonymous survey about judgement. After the quiz they had another break and then they headed to Deputy Dean´s house for a nice BBQ dinner. The food was delicious and there were plenty of activities to take part in. The students got so into football they managed to kick the ball over a six-foot fence – and almost got to meet the neighbours.