Experiential Leadership by…

Risk taking/ Going outside the comfort zone
Being in a different setting in unfamiliar environment (camping in backcountry). Travel with group of people that is more or less unfamiliar. Engage in activity that individual may not have done before that is exciting and challenging. Embarking on any new adventure, no matter how experienced the individual, evokes a normally inexperienced series of emotions that serve as the starting point for self-knowledge. The fear and apprehension that one feels before engaging in unfamiliar territory are there because the individual is about to come closer to testing their own limits excuses are no longer an option when talk becomes action.

Spiritual Awakening/Self-awareness
In leaving the home base of URI, the students will experience openness to experience more than what they are typically accustomed to. While throughout the weekend the students’ minds may travel back to what remains for them at URI, be it work or social, the whitewater rafting experience of the trip will be such a mind-focusing rush that they will have no choice but to concentrate on the moment and let go of their distractions.
“Those who succeed and do not push on to greater failure are the spiritual middle classers. Their stopping at success is the proof of their compromising insignificance… Only through the unattainable does man achieve a hope worth living and dying for – and so attain himself.” (Eugene O’Neill, 1980)

Personal reflection
Through the self-awareness that occurs when people find themselves experiencing the moment comes the amazing feeling of truly living and not just talking or thinking about it. Only from experiencing life in this way can one begin to understand the core of who they are, which is the essence of personal reflection. The relaxation time and the camping experience will provide the students with a good deal of time to reflect on their experiences.

Teamwork
Because it takes eight people to successfully paddle a raft down a river of whitewater, it also takes those people to work together as a cooperative team to be successful. If the students want to stay somewhat dry they will quickly learn that they need to communicate and practice teamwork. “Cooperation emerges as a group of people working toward a common goal which they cannot accomplish individually. It emerges as a group of people begins to recognize, value, and make use of differing talent included among members of the group. It occurs when the group accepts and supportsthe efforts of the individuals within it.” (Webster, S.“A Trip into the Unknown”)

1. Bonding/Group reflection
How: Through challenging experiences people begin to appreciate and rely on other people not because of their talents or abilities in the individual activities, but rather because of their supportive and positive attitudes.
Why: As graduating seniors within a relatively small program, it is important to feel a sense of connection with those who have some of the same values and interests as themselves. Too many majors on campus have little association outside of the academic atmosphere at URI.


2. Closure
How: Because the retreat is the last week of school and only two weeks before graduation, the weekend will serve as one of closure for many of the seniors.
Why: Being that this weekend is so late in the semester, it is unlikely that the seniors will be able to get away in such a significant way again before graduation. All of the emotions that come with leaving one thing behind and starting again into the unknown will be there, but will positively coincide with the feelings of excitement and competence that the students will feel from their outdoor adventure.