Well, the first Coles Scholars Retreat has quickly come and gone. Our first official outing as the first class of Coles Scholars was 2 nights spent at Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris, GA. It was entirely jam packed! Just to give you an idea...
Day 3:
Breakfast in the dining room was fantastic!
lecture
check out
RAFTING!! I was super excited to go whitewater rafting, as I said. I hadn't been in years! The guides were absolutely great! Mine, Philip, is a teacher at a very small private school working with children with various special needs. They allow him to come late in order to finish his rafting season. What a life! Play all summer, teach fall and winter? Yes, Please! Wildwater Rafting is highly reccommended! They have rafting adventures on the Ocoee, Pigeon, Nantahala, and Chatooga Rivers (we rafted the middle of the Ocoee), among other activities. Check out their website with the link above!
The Wild West Murder Mystery Theater Dinner--a mouthful, I know! I had never done anything like this before, so I was a bit nervous. As it happened, we had great fun, though I can't say it was comfortable for me. I don't know that I'd pay to do it again on my own, but we had a good time with it. We all dressed up like "wild west characters." I was supposed to be a flirtacious poker player raised by her father. I was to pretend like I'm from a wealthy, southern plantation owning family, southern accent and all. I'm not flirtacious, I don't have an accent, nor am I any good at pretending. This was the activity that was most outside my comfort zone, but I figured that this was the point; to push us. I tried to embrace it as best as I could knowing that everyone can't be good at everything and we were supposed to be bonding as a team. I did feel comfortable enough with most of my classmates by this point that I could relax a little.
After the murder was solved, we all went outside to make s'mores at the campfire which was outside the barn. I, of course, had to go into the barn. I miss that smell! The tack room was closed, and they use chips in the stalls rather than hay, but it smelled like a barn none-the-less. I called Erik to tell him about my day and wave the fact that I was standing in a barn in his face when two of my professors wandered toward the pasture (and the horses!). The stable master brought some feed out and we each got a handful which allowed me to pet the horses for a second--they are VERY food motivated. The stars were out in full force on a very clear night; it was a fabulous ending to a great day!
When we went back to the lodge, everyone dispersed to do various things: Pool, gym, rooms...I went out on the deck to enjoy the perfect weather! I also loaded an app on my new iPad Air (oh yeah, we each got an iPad to borrow for the entirety of the program!). Skyview is amazing! One of the guys had pulled it out on his iPhone on our wagon ride back from dinner. For any of you who don't know what it is (like I didn't), it's an app that you turn on and point at the sky so that you can see where the constillations are, the planets, even The Hubble Telescope! It was very cool, especially on such a clear night!
In addition to all of the activities, we had workshops about ethics, creativity, information on our trip to Guatemala in May, and other info pertinent to our group. We will climb a volcano (Mt. Pacaya), by the way! I just can't wait to go meet the people of Guatemala! We'll have a home stay with local families, staying in their homes, and living as they live. I can't wait to see that!
All in all, I was very pleased with the 2 1/2 days. I had been quite nervous before leaving, even telling Erik that I didn't wan to go. I just wanted to stay home with him and rest before classes start. By the end of the days at the beautiful Brasstown Valley Resort, I was so glad I'd gone! I felt like it was a great opportunity to learn and grow as an individual, and as a cohort. It left me excited to see what else we'll do together, what else we can learn from our teachers, and from each other! I guess we'll see...classes begin Monday...
Day 1:
Depart KSU
Workshop style lectures
Amazing race
Glow Golf
And lunch & dinner thrown in, too
Day 2:
Rafting on the Ocoee River
Lecture
Info session about our trip to Guatemala (May!!!)
Wild West murder mystery dinner theater
Breakfast, lunch on the bus to the river
Day 3:
Breakfast in the dining room was fantastic!
lecture
check out
With only 12 hours to get all of this done in each day (1 & 2)....good gosh, it was just non stop!
The resort is absolutely amazing!! The views are beautiful, and they're seen from every window in the place! We went for a "hay ride" at one point and saw views of the valley and of Brasstown Bald, and heard the story of the turtle. This is a Cherokee legend of a large turtle saving the tribe in the valley during a flood, and in fact bringing the Cherokee to the valley. This explained the turtle logo all over the resort. I had been curious as a bear or deer or something of the like seemed more appropriate. But alas, there was a reason, as there often is.
I was pleasantly surprised that the group seemed pretty cohesive pretty quickly. Though I somewhat expected to have seen groups form in our couple of days, aside from the people who were already friends coming into this outing, there didn't seem to be tight groups form while we were away.
We did work in multiple different groups on various activities allowing us to meet everyone, work with everyone, and finally meet our teams for the remainder of the semester. I'm pleased with my group! We all have strengths in differing areas (done purposefully), so hopefully we'll all be able to pick up any slack in those areas that we're strongest. Theoretically, this should mean that these teams should be the best we work with.
On our way home, I sat with my roommate, Olivia, and 3 guys (there are 12 guys and 5 girls in the group) that I hadn't spent much time with yet while we ate lunch. We discussed all kinds of things: What we'll do with our degrees, who will stay here in the US, who will go back home or abroad, and among others, what was our favorite thing about the retreat. Overall, the favorite seemed to be Whitewater Rafting! Of course, this was my favorite as it's right up my alley!! I was surprised and intrigued to find that most of my groupmates were intimidated, at the very least, by the prospect of rafting. I asked the two that had been nervous why they had felt that way. Responses were pretty typical: "I didn't want to drown!" I tried to explain that this is a hard concept for me as this kind of activity is within my comfort zone, while something like the murder mystery theater was entirely out of my comfort zone! It was interesting to try to understand everyone's perspectives.
As for the other activities, I tried to make the best of each of them. I am not athletic in the least, so The Amazing Race was a challenge, though it was fun and everyone seemed to be helpful and patient with everyone else! The challenges ranged from stacking three tubes of chapstick on a table using only chopsticks to a scavenger hunt on one of the resort's trails. In between each of the ten tasks, we "ran" furiously from place to place. I ran for the first two stops before I was wheezing and just couldn't run any more. My legs still ache very badly today (3 days later)...I very clearly need to start exercising again. Maybe one of my athletic groupmates will volunteer to be my trainer??
"Glow Ball" is a form of mini golf played in the dark on the putting green of the golf course. The balls, well, glow. Unfortunately, the stars didn't align very well for this activity. We had been going non-stop all day long, there were only 6 putters and there were approximately 20+/- people playing. As if all of that wasn't enough, the sprinklers were on out on the green, so a couple of the holes couldn't be played at first. All that said, a couple of the other girls and I asked for permission to spend some time relaxing in the hot tub before crawling into our beds and sleeping like babies! I absolutely hated not participating in every activity, but I was SO tired! I didn't have the patience in me to wait my turn, and then pay attention to play a game that I'm terrible at on a great day. Fortunately, we had a very sympathetic professor who was also very exhausted--Thank you Dr. Campbell, for understanding!
We did work in multiple different groups on various activities allowing us to meet everyone, work with everyone, and finally meet our teams for the remainder of the semester. I'm pleased with my group! We all have strengths in differing areas (done purposefully), so hopefully we'll all be able to pick up any slack in those areas that we're strongest. Theoretically, this should mean that these teams should be the best we work with.
On our way home, I sat with my roommate, Olivia, and 3 guys (there are 12 guys and 5 girls in the group) that I hadn't spent much time with yet while we ate lunch. We discussed all kinds of things: What we'll do with our degrees, who will stay here in the US, who will go back home or abroad, and among others, what was our favorite thing about the retreat. Overall, the favorite seemed to be Whitewater Rafting! Of course, this was my favorite as it's right up my alley!! I was surprised and intrigued to find that most of my groupmates were intimidated, at the very least, by the prospect of rafting. I asked the two that had been nervous why they had felt that way. Responses were pretty typical: "I didn't want to drown!" I tried to explain that this is a hard concept for me as this kind of activity is within my comfort zone, while something like the murder mystery theater was entirely out of my comfort zone! It was interesting to try to understand everyone's perspectives.
As for the other activities, I tried to make the best of each of them. I am not athletic in the least, so The Amazing Race was a challenge, though it was fun and everyone seemed to be helpful and patient with everyone else! The challenges ranged from stacking three tubes of chapstick on a table using only chopsticks to a scavenger hunt on one of the resort's trails. In between each of the ten tasks, we "ran" furiously from place to place. I ran for the first two stops before I was wheezing and just couldn't run any more. My legs still ache very badly today (3 days later)...I very clearly need to start exercising again. Maybe one of my athletic groupmates will volunteer to be my trainer??
"Glow Ball" is a form of mini golf played in the dark on the putting green of the golf course. The balls, well, glow. Unfortunately, the stars didn't align very well for this activity. We had been going non-stop all day long, there were only 6 putters and there were approximately 20+/- people playing. As if all of that wasn't enough, the sprinklers were on out on the green, so a couple of the holes couldn't be played at first. All that said, a couple of the other girls and I asked for permission to spend some time relaxing in the hot tub before crawling into our beds and sleeping like babies! I absolutely hated not participating in every activity, but I was SO tired! I didn't have the patience in me to wait my turn, and then pay attention to play a game that I'm terrible at on a great day. Fortunately, we had a very sympathetic professor who was also very exhausted--Thank you Dr. Campbell, for understanding!
RAFTING!! I was super excited to go whitewater rafting, as I said. I hadn't been in years! The guides were absolutely great! Mine, Philip, is a teacher at a very small private school working with children with various special needs. They allow him to come late in order to finish his rafting season. What a life! Play all summer, teach fall and winter? Yes, Please! Wildwater Rafting is highly reccommended! They have rafting adventures on the Ocoee, Pigeon, Nantahala, and Chatooga Rivers (we rafted the middle of the Ocoee), among other activities. Check out their website with the link above!
The Wild West Murder Mystery Theater Dinner--a mouthful, I know! I had never done anything like this before, so I was a bit nervous. As it happened, we had great fun, though I can't say it was comfortable for me. I don't know that I'd pay to do it again on my own, but we had a good time with it. We all dressed up like "wild west characters." I was supposed to be a flirtacious poker player raised by her father. I was to pretend like I'm from a wealthy, southern plantation owning family, southern accent and all. I'm not flirtacious, I don't have an accent, nor am I any good at pretending. This was the activity that was most outside my comfort zone, but I figured that this was the point; to push us. I tried to embrace it as best as I could knowing that everyone can't be good at everything and we were supposed to be bonding as a team. I did feel comfortable enough with most of my classmates by this point that I could relax a little.
After the murder was solved, we all went outside to make s'mores at the campfire which was outside the barn. I, of course, had to go into the barn. I miss that smell! The tack room was closed, and they use chips in the stalls rather than hay, but it smelled like a barn none-the-less. I called Erik to tell him about my day and wave the fact that I was standing in a barn in his face when two of my professors wandered toward the pasture (and the horses!). The stable master brought some feed out and we each got a handful which allowed me to pet the horses for a second--they are VERY food motivated. The stars were out in full force on a very clear night; it was a fabulous ending to a great day!
When we went back to the lodge, everyone dispersed to do various things: Pool, gym, rooms...I went out on the deck to enjoy the perfect weather! I also loaded an app on my new iPad Air (oh yeah, we each got an iPad to borrow for the entirety of the program!). Skyview is amazing! One of the guys had pulled it out on his iPhone on our wagon ride back from dinner. For any of you who don't know what it is (like I didn't), it's an app that you turn on and point at the sky so that you can see where the constillations are, the planets, even The Hubble Telescope! It was very cool, especially on such a clear night!
In addition to all of the activities, we had workshops about ethics, creativity, information on our trip to Guatemala in May, and other info pertinent to our group. We will climb a volcano (Mt. Pacaya), by the way! I just can't wait to go meet the people of Guatemala! We'll have a home stay with local families, staying in their homes, and living as they live. I can't wait to see that!
All in all, I was very pleased with the 2 1/2 days. I had been quite nervous before leaving, even telling Erik that I didn't wan to go. I just wanted to stay home with him and rest before classes start. By the end of the days at the beautiful Brasstown Valley Resort, I was so glad I'd gone! I felt like it was a great opportunity to learn and grow as an individual, and as a cohort. It left me excited to see what else we'll do together, what else we can learn from our teachers, and from each other! I guess we'll see...classes begin Monday...
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