Last weekend I embarked on what could have easily been the most challenging and rewarding trip of my life to The Blue Mountains. While the weekend as a whole was an incredible growing experience, I will remember three specific moments for years to come. These three moments wouldn’t have been as memorable if it wasn’t for some extremely awesome group dynamics that took place throughout the weekend.
The first experience happened amidst one of the most terrifying moments of my life. Early into the weekend we were given the opportunity to army crawl through a small cave-like opening. While normally timid, I uncharacteristically decided to jump at the opportunity and began the crawl like many of the group members before me. While my team members were able to do this challenge with grace, I quickly panicked and was soon literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. My breathing gained momentum and my life started to flash before me as I tried to wiggle my way out. It simply was not working. I was truly stuck and started to think about the possibility of having to dislocate my shoulder to get out, or even worse remaining there until I had to embarrassingly be rescued by patrollers. Finishing and making my way fully out was not an option and I had to push my body back to where I began. While I was initially upset that I wasn’t able to properly finish, it did prove to be a worthwhile lesson. Sometimes, as hard as you may try, making it to the finish line is not an option. The best thing you can do is safely return to start and think about how you would do things differently next time. I’d love to come back to that cave in a few years and really complete the challenge. In Adventure-based Counseling an important principle is Challenge By Choice. Simply put a challenge by choice is a growth activity, often difficult that the participant has full control over their own participation.The instructor and other participants must respect this choice. My challenge came in the form of going through that small rock formation. My fellow group members were fully supportive of me and only cared for my safety. It felt great to know that they had my back and wouldn’t judge me for not completing the challenge. It was my choice to attempt it and although I was not fully successful I am proud of the fact that I took on the challenge.
My next moment came at the final stair of saturdays hike. After hundreds of stairs and hours of hiking I’ve never been more excited to see the finish line. The eight hour hike was physically brutal and mentally incredible at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the hike, but was more than excited to see the end. As a group we all ran the last couple steps to the top, where the earlier finishing groups waited for us with hands spread open. This was an amazing feeling to see not only the support from the other groups but to know that our group was able to finish together as a team. I had a fantastic group for the long hike. We bonded throughout the time and genuinely cared about each other's success in the hike. Many scholars of experiential learning point to the five phases of group dynamics,forming, norming, performing, and ending. At this moment we were clearly in the "performing phase", working in tangent to reach our final goal. We understood each other and were able to provide the necessary support for everyone to safely and successfully reach the finish. We were confident in each other, which in turn led us to be confident in ourselves. I never realized how important that aspect of group dynamics is. If you can’t be confident in the people around you, it is very hard to conjure up the self-confidence that is needed to complete a task like the hike we embarked on.
The last moment that i’ll remember for a long time to come happened later that night by the campfire. While our group was reminiscing about our day and hike all we could do was break down in uncontrollable laughter. The dynamic was irreplaceable and the moment was a great summation of our day. This would fall into the "ending phase" of group dynamics. Our work was done and we still chose to be together and enjoy the process we went through. We laughed together, reminiscing about our success and it is incredible to think that just twelve hours early we barely knew each other. We will soon be in new groups, with new people and new experiences. I plan to use the successes from this group as a learning tool for any new group I may be in. While it is impossible to replicate a group's dynamic, it is possible to positively enhance group dynamic through prior experience.
I will look back to my weekend at The Blue Mountains with great pride and affection. It was an incredible experience, made even better by some pretty great people. An experience some would even call unforgettable!
Find out more about Challenge by Choice: http://wilderdom.com/ABC/ChallengeByChoice.html
Find out more about Group Phases: http://www.angelfire.com/mt/Roofonfire/group.html
