High Event Challenge Day

I was significantly amazed at a time when I first arrived at the campsite, looking up towards the sky and founding two equipped guys climbing up onto two huge woody pillars. “Excuse me? Are we supposed to do it in the same way? It must be joking…” I muttered away to myself. People’s feeling had no differences from mine, more or less, as which I could interpret their facial and verbal expression. The night before the event I just read the notice delivered to prepare for it. The event was so-called “High Event Challenge Day”, with the formats including many challenge, collaboration as well as inspiration. At the beginning I was so attracted as the title of the event insisted in “high” level, compared with the “low” one which has already, however, induced my illumination of my faith for every single current situation and the much prospect for future life with a definable purpose and target. I was satisfied but in fact I expected and looked forward to it much more this time.

The day was properly divided into two sessions, namely the morning session and the afternoon session, which was arranged on game-based. Actually in total 3 part of games. My group, similar to the other two groups, joined two of them, in which one of them consisted of two sub-games for us to select while the others were preferentially assigned, were available. At the beginning I wondered at the considerately great difficulties of the games accounting for courage and physical strength. I was not worrying about my ability to deal with them but my fellas, in particular the ladies. All ladies in my group were my classmates being studying together from more than 2 years and I understand them well. But anyway they are brilliant. Everybody at that time was taking it easy. However, since it was “high” event, instructors gave a clear briefing of that day’s programmes as a routine interest very seriously and audients were all seriously listening.

The first game began. Our instructor first gave a speech, letting us look into details of the tasks we were facing. I know my bad. I am a terribly poor listener. I used not to pay attention to what people are talking. But I knew I had to, at least this time, once the instructor warned us, “Your buddies’ lives is now in your hand. Grab it hard!” Oh he is right. I was reminded that I was not having an individual show but was cooperating with my friends, my fellas. Most the time when a person places himself into the society, he is not alone. Everybody ought to insist on high accountability and respect to the others, regardless of whether he is leading or being lead. I am forcing myself to become a proper listener, telling myself and others, “Those who don’t care about fellas are even worse than a good-for-nothing.”
The first game focused on collaboration. Two people grouped together and helping each other to climb up to the Giant Ladder which consists of sever steps, some 2 meters separated from one another. My partner, Sharon and I was the last sub-group to climb. At the beginning we set a goal with comprise. At last our subgroup showed a successful performance. I was so delighted not only because I did it, but also because my partner said during evaluation that she really trusts me. I always bear it mind that individual showing up is definitely not a big deal. The skills how you facilitate people in your group, which outcome could not and should never reply on whoever, must be most concerned in a team work. I never viewed my delicate partner as a burden; I never blame her for hitting my face with her legs for several times when she was stepping on me to climb up. Indeed, she was facilitating our entire progress during such a successful partnership. There is a trust building between each other. A simple claim of “supporter ready” virtually will show its magical effect in participants’ heart. Moreover, at the time when I was trying to climb up to the fourth level I was so diffident and I didn’t think I could do it. At that moment my self-confident shrunk, but I had the incredibly strong faith to do, to try. Ultimately I got it. People break through their boundary in the encouraging and supporting atmosphere. The so-called self-utmost a person could figure out is a fake due to fragile faith. Personally faith is more crucial than confidence. The former is the ultimate element that brings great breakthrough. It’s my peak experience this time.

On the other hand, I call for experience because the best learning measure is to experience. Before I climbed I had been the string holders for 3 rounds, offering me many experiences and letting me know I was not just to hold the string, but in fact properly enhancing climbers in my group to keep going up. As a result, I frequently kept giving signals to my string holder and asking for help when necessary. That’s why experiential learning, stressing that participants learn in a situation at a real environment and improving the ability of self-examination via experience has its merit.

Certainly people with different thinking will have different feeling for the same experience. The 2nd game was abseiling in the afternoon. Abseiling seems to be the “highest” task there. Participants abseiled with a string down to the ground floor from the roof of a 6-floor tall building. Most of us had never did it beforehand. But I just viewed it as a simple game. I was tired and thus I rather let others to play first so that I could take a rest. They played one by one. Every time when a teammate was abseiling down people kept shouting to support him and applauded when he completed. This kind of encouragement is touching our heart; otherwise things would turn out to be less meaningful. During debriefing, I learned that most of us appreciate the support from teammates and see it as the point for their success.

I did better than I could expect. This is due to my strong faith in mind, in heart. I got it from this high event, which brings my faith one steps to a more advanced level. Experiential learning actually could be interpreted as a positive scene of a mini-society, revealing a nature with an affirmation, a convincing support by mean of various types of beneficial experiences. The appreciation made by participants, including me, all evolves from heart by experiencing others’ care and by feeling which in turn convinces life change.

I have new dignitarial experience.