Thursday, September 9, 2010

STI Novaliches - Clubs' Team Building @ Ecopark

By Damsel Leah Gatus, BA701E

How can we associate something that aims to encourage serious cooperation to something that provides enjoyment or amusement all at the same time? Is that possible? :)

Last August 30, our very own, YES (formerly e-FMS) club officers participated in the annual Team Building event of STI Novaliches. La Mesa, Eco Park was a perfect venue as it exhibits outdoor fun in the city without the hassle of long travels to distant provinces.


TREKKING

At around 9am the fun started. Sir Enriquez, who turned out to be our activity facilitator, led us in the 2.5 km walk in the little forest. He instructed us to be observant with the place. We had climbed 105 steps to see the view of the La Mesa Dam then went down through the slope. Almost all had a hard time going down the slope since it was slippery. I myself had a funny experience that time for I accidentally slipped, but then, it was fun as there were two others who had shared the same fate. :)

After the exhausting trekking in the swamps and muddy paths and cliffs, we finally reached the topmost part of the La Mesa, Eco Park. Joy came to all of us as we enjoyed the scenic beauty of the place. It's indeed a worthwhile experience.


SCAVENGER HUNT

The next activity was the Scavenger Hunt. This activity really tested our teamwork on how we would be able to find all things in the list given to us by Sir Enriquez with limited time considering that the objects were to be found on the paths that we had hardly traversed.

The lesson we learned from this activity was delegation. We had seen how delegation, cooperation and unified actions led to us to succeed. We were able to finish first. :)


COMMENDATION

We all knew how hard it had been to finish the whole trekking experience. Some of us had a trembling experience while traversing the paths, cliffs, and wet slopes. One of the YES officers was noticed by Sir Enriquez and was given due appreciation. She had shown a good example for all of us, that is, "Never to lose hope or quit despite the challenges we face in our life." And as a reward for keeping the faith and courage to do the challenges despite all of her doubts and worries, Ms. Janina Jayme (Yes Club President), was given a commendation by Sir Enriquez.


CHEERING

Our club (YES) ranked 3rd overall in the scavenger hunt. All the participants felt tired after gathering and presenting all the items from the scavenger hunt. To brighten us up, a friendly cheer-yell competition between clubs was held. On the spot songs, dances, jokes and any other pakwelas made the activity very entertaining. Luckily we won in this competition! (Another pack of wiggles for us!)

FOOD TRIP

In every adventure, it's very important to have a full stomach. Thanks to our facilitators headed by Ma’am Armie Calma, we enjoyed the snacks and meal they had provided us.


SEMINAR/CULMINATING ACTIVITIES

In every team building activity, it's not just the physical activities that matter but also the information that one gets from short talks shared by our speakers.

A Leadership seminar was headed by Dr. Joseph Adan, our club adviser. It was titled, "Awaken the Leaders in You." We had learned the important steps to develop one’s Leadership Skills. These are the following:

Humility.
SWOT yourself.
Follow your bliss.
Dream big.
Vision.
Perseverance.
Honor your word.
Get a mentor.
Be yourself.
Give.

Leaders are not born. They are grown. And we are all very fortunate for we are being molded by our Alma mater to become effective future leaders.

The last, but definitely not the least, was the culminating activity, which helped us apply what we learned from the previous activities. This activity was headed by Ma'am Armie Calma, our Guidance Counselor. She had explained to us the parts needed in a student's organization plan that would help officers to fulfill their duties effectively; thus helping us obtain the goals of the club.


TIME TO GO...

After day-long activities, though tired and sleepy, we all enjoyed and cherished every bonding moments we had with our fellow officers. We had learned and earned both at the same time. First, we learned to be physically ready for the challenges; learned bursting information about team building; learned to adjust with each other; learned to keep the faith and courage. And, we earned friendship as we go along challenges together, not letting anyone to be left behind; and earned memories that would never be taken away from us. :)