All I can say is WOW! What an exciting start to week 5. Monday began in the Union at 9 a.m. with an introduction to a panel composed of three leaders who explained their paths and how they landed their dream jobs. We heard from Bill Dorenkott (head coach of women’s swimming- my coach!), Greg Beals (head coach of baseball) and Geoff Carlston (head coach of women’s volleyball). Each coach briefly introduced himself and who he is before the interns broke up into three groups, where we could speak and ask questions to one coach at a time. While in our groups, the coaches had to answer three general questions: what is your leadership style, what traits does an ideal player on your team have and what do you believe are the keys to living a successful life. Coach Dorenkott discussed the importance of an individual having grit and a selfless nature, since these characteristics help not only the individual, but the team as a whole excel. After his time was up, he handed us a pamphlet titled “The Paradoxical Commandments,” which identified principals people should live by even if they conflict with the outcome. For example, one says, “What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyways.” Something that stands out in my mind about Coach Beals discussion is his use of the checkers versus chess metaphor in relation to leadership. He instructed us to question whether we live our lives as checker pieces, only being able to move one way, or as chess pieces, which are unique and have different skills and strategies on how to perform. This metaphor served to challenge us to develop our skills and shy away from being a ‘one-trick pony’ in regards to not only our athletics and leadership, but our lives in general. Finally, Coach Carlston’s story was very unconventional compared to the other two coaches. Instead of following the ‘system’s’ demands and entering the workforce straight out of college, he joined the Peace Corps and traveled the world for years. He described this as “following your bliss” and advised all of us to do this in all aspects of our lives in order to find happiness. All three coaches inspired the interns a great deal, and we learned so much about their leadership styles that allows us to channel ours.
Then, something interesting occurred. A large table was set in front of us with random items on top. Some of these included newspapers, crates, cotton balls, tape and a brick! We were divided up into four groups and told to select a number between 1 and 100, which would secure our spot in ‘the draft.’ After the order of the draft was decided, each group had 15 seconds to choose one item at a time, and it looked like a dash for cash, except the cash was soft and fluffy stuff…excluding the brick…When all the items were finally divvied up equally between the four groups, our leaders explained we had 10 minutes to construct a device for an egg drop contest!
One device used a long silver tube to drop the egg into a crate filled with soft items.
Another let the egg parachute down surrounded in a bag full of pliable material.
The third device employed a nesting doll technique, where the egg was placed inside a box inside another box inside a larger box.
My team switched from our original strategy of using a parachute to placing the egg inside a cup with cotton balls surrounded with bubble wrap and placed inside a grocery bag filled with fluffy material.
At the end of the 10 minutes, each egg safely descended down a level to the drop zone- some more gently than others. This activity definitely taught us how to manage time constraints and limited materials or knowledge in a team environment. In addition to the worthwhile lessons behind this contest, all the interns learned to never trust John with eggs because even though the drop zone was splatter free, the wall behind the trash can could not say the same. We’re sorry janitors…we tried!
The final activity of the day caused a great stir of excitement among the interns and channeled our summertime as a child- a lemonade stand contest! Each group was supplied with a mobile cart, a large container filled with water, lemonade mix, cups, a sign and markers. Our instructions were to distribute as much lemonade as possible in one hour and whoever collected the most money could donate the total of all four groups to the charity of their choice. The leaders barely finished their spiel before all the groups began devising a strategy and dashing off into campus to distribute some lemonade! My group colorfully decorated a sign, decided to donate our money to Nationwide Children’s hospital for research and instructed Lamar to be our spokesperson because of his charming and outgoing personality. Right off the bat we racked in many customers from students walking to class and orientation groups. However, we ran into other groups and clientele began to slow, so we changed our plan of attack, setting off towards the RPAC.
Once we arrived after sprinting quite a distance, not many people were coming and going in the area, so we decided to try the medical center. This is where we received the most donations and stayed for the majority of our time. We connected with numerous people and met some with such big hearts! At noon, we headed to the recruit room at The Shoe to meet our 12:15 deadline. Along the way, we secured a few more donations, which made us confident in our profits for the day in comparison to other groups. Entering the recruit room, we came to find out one group had made over $90! AMAZING! While the other three groups’ amounts seemed small in comparison, our total added up to over $274, which will make a great donation to the Ronald McDonald House. Looking back on the activity if I could change one thing, I would have my group make more of a personal connection with people before offering them lemonade and asking for a donation. This was the winning group’s strategy, and I believe it made all the difference for them.
All in all, Monday proved to be an extremely valuable day that taught us important lessons on how to effectively differentiate ourselves and become more self-aware of our leadership styles from hands on experience. If I have to say so myself, I believe this week played a crucial role in establishing a newfound connectedness between all the interns. The bond we have continues to grow week after week, but Monday tossed us into situations that allowed us to really learn more about one another by showing us how each reacts to and handles challenges. It is definitely exciting to watch each other grow but more than anything, I love getting closer to and forming friendships with people who share the same passions and goals.