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How it began...
The week began by traveling via carpool with three of my close college friends. We navigated to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on a rainy day in hopes of a week full of good experiences and weather. The week started off slow. Meeting our new group members and counselor on the first day. Each day started off at 7:00am wake up and 7:30am breakfast. We would work on team leadership skills throughout the day, whether this was leading activities individually, group led presentations, or leadership exercises. Lunch was at 12:00pm and dinner began at 6:00pm. During this week we would live with three other campers in a small rustic cabin with a pair of bunk beds. Cabinmates were made by request, however our camp "family" is composed of eight random members and one leader. The goal was to have you working with people you don’t know from all different backgrounds. After the first day the ground rules were set, we began the second day with our first individually run leadership activity. The goal of these activities was to learn which leadership themes you possess and which ones needed work. Days two through five were entirely leadership activities. As the days progressed so did the difficulty of the activities. Each member would lead their group through one 20 min activity and one 30 min activity. While the activity was going on, the counselors would assess us on the same rating scale called the blue card. This card had 16 different themes. The themes were divided into values and presence, intellectual skills, and leadership skills. Each division had approximately five themes, (e.i. confidence, sound judgment, leading others, etc.). The counselor would rate you in each of these categories with; excellent meaning going above and beyond, satisfactory meaning hits all the requirements, and needs improvement meaning you are missing some qualities (an example of the blue card is depicted to the right). After we completed the leadership activity we would grade ourselves by filling out our own blue card. The counselor would then fill out their own blue card and we would compare thoughts and growth areas. This would take place in one on one meetings. Not only would we compare thoughts with our counselors, but our group members as well. We would debrief after each activity. Debriefs would consist of theme strengths, theme improvements, and the STAR method. The star method stands for “Situation Task Action Result”. This was the outline for the analysis of each activity. Gaining insight from peers is a great method for self improvement. Learning, experimenting, and reflecting on what you do well and what needs improvement is the premise of each activity. The main goal of Camp Brosius is to get you involved in as many leadership growth situations with as many different people as possible.
Learning highlights…
Next I will reflect on my most significant moment from the week. This was a moment that took place over multiple days. It started back when I led my first team activity. This was an activity that many people had issues with especially when it isn’t approached correctly. The activity was called pitching a tent in darkness. The goal was to correctly pitch a tent and fit all eight teammates inside of the tent before the storm hit in 20 minutes. However, there was one roadblock, it had to be done blind. We were required to wear blindfolds from start to finish. The tent was in a stuff sack and was not allowed to be looked over before putting on the blindfolds. This seemed like the perfect activity for me considering I've pitched quite a few tents. The only issue was my teammates have never pitched a tent. Once the timer began I briefly explained how a tent is pitched and attempted to assign tasks for each member. Unfortunately this didn’t go to plan and my team was lost and blind. Attempting to get everyone back on the same page we made slight progress but the time ran out. I was disappointed with how this activity turned out, but was determined to accomplish the next. A few days passed by and I was given advice and time to reflect. Once my second activity came about, I took more time to prepare and ensure my team had a proper game plan. I was given another tough challenge called the wall. The objective was to get all eight members over a twelve foot wall in 30 minutes with a few rules and safety precautions. This activity went much differently. We executed the objective seamlessly just under the time limit. This moment of accomplishment was significant because it taught me the importance of learning from failure. After failing my first leadership activity I was disappointed. I used this disappointment to fuel growth and bounce back during my second activity.
Reflection…
Personally, my experience at Camp Brosius was a vital step towards my future. The relationships and people skills I developed are crucial for my occupation. While I was reflecting with my counselor, she asked me “what my biggest takeaway from this camp was”. This might seem like a standard question; however, it got me thinking. All of my life I have been surrounded by people of a similar background to myself. This being a majority athletes and high achieving students. At this camp and even in my family I was working with people from all different backgrounds and experiences. The most important thing I learned was to take a step back and think about things from their point of view. Each and every one is good at something different. One of the guys in my group was very introverted and didn’t like speaking. However, he had great innovative skills. His ability to think logically and effectively gave our group a skill that no one else had. This gave me the perspective that just because people don’t speak up doesn’t mean they don’t have any ideas.
Personal leadership…
After a week of developing my leadership skills I would consider my top personal leadership style to be leading others. I felt as though I lead others not only by words, but examples as well. We were required to take the StrengthFinder test before attending camp. This test gives your top five strengths. My StrengthFinder assessment results consisted of achiever, futuristic, discipline, focus, and analytical. I would consider these to be my top five strengths. However, sometimes your strength can be your greatest weakness if not used correctly. I learned this the hard way in my first activity listed above. I wanted to achieve success in the activity but jumped into the task with not enough preparation.
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