By Hannah Gilfix
During the opening conference, a group of fellows planned and organized ice breaker games for the entire cohort. They decided to put together a few Minute to Win It games. A lot of planning went into the program and then, as happens often within informal education, the schedule got changed and they had to think on their feet. The fellows who led the program had to come together to make it happen days before it was supposed to, and the cohort had to come together as a group right from the start.
The cohort was split into four random teams, full of people whose names we didn’t even know yet, and decide what each person’s strengths and weaknesses were to have the best team. As a room full of camp counselors, we all felt like masters of ice-breaker games, so pretty quickly some people had to step back and let others lead, and others had to step up to lead their teams. In true camp fashion, team cheers were created without any direction to do so, and friendly team rivalries emerged.
As the games went on, each member of the team stepping up to participate in one of the games, and the cheers getting louder, we were asked by the hotel to quiet down. We wanted to keep up the ruach so instead of getting quieter, we decided to bring the games outside. During our short few minutes outside, it started to downpour, but we continued to play the games outside anyway, as everyone was very determined to win.
I think the fellow-led Minute to Win It games are a perfect metaphor for who the people on the Nachshon Project are and what we want to accomplish this semestser. A group of fellows came together to create a program before even meeting and on the second day of being together, they were asked to deliver their program many days early. As we’ve all had to do in previous leadership experiences and will continue to do in the roles we take on in the future, the leaders had to think on their feet, and the rest of us knew how important it was to be positive and adapt to the change. Moving outside and playing in the rain, mid-program, is another perfect example of how our cohort has come together to support each other and how we’ve already learned the importance of keeping a positive attitude under all circumstances, especially as leaders. Although a program full of Minute to Win It games seems like it may be a very insignificant experience during a five month program, we were able to transform it into a valuable experience that brought us together as a group for one of the first times.
