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The Leadership Retreat, which was sponsored by the Student Activities Office and the Dean of Students Office took place last weekend. I will try to convey a sense of the weekend, but words may not do justice.At 8am on September 15, we started to straggle in. We became more awake and Donna Mostovoy and other important people got more organized as it got closer to 8:30 and as the coffee and other forms of caffeine started to take effect. After getting name tags and stowing our luggage, we got into the bus (a Greyhound clone) and started off to Michigan. Two hours later, we arrived at Camp Ronora. We were staying in what was basically hotel rooms transplanted into the wilderness, except for the guys who were stuck in the bunkhouse. We had a little time to unpack before the retreat started with the inevitable icebreakers. Believe it or not, these were actually fun! (Un)fortunately, Donna and her camcorder, and Pete Johnson and his camera were working overtime (as they were throughout the retreat), so all of our embarrassing moments were captured in living color. 
After this, we were all ready for lunch. It was real food! The people who run the camp are good country people and believe the only kind of food is home-made food. We whole heartedly agreed and stuffed ourselves. The guys in the bunkhousehad already transformed into the "Bunkhouse Boys," as evidenced by the phrase "Bunkhouse rules," which was heard more often than "Pass the pie." After lunch was a series of discussions which were supposed to make us into better leaders. First was around table with administration and other important people. We gained a little insight to what makes the upper echelon tick, and learned that they really do want to hear from us. Next up was Dean Schafer trying to tell us how to work with administrators. In a nutshell, you have to pester the heckout of them but realize that they can't do everything all at once. Team building was next. What this meant was we all got to make fools of ourselves in front of everyone else and the camcorder. The most fun of the activities would have to be when we lined up, put our hands in the air, and passed each other down the line. If you have never had a butt massage by sixty other people seven feet above the ground, you should try it sometime. 
After all this exercise, we were more than ready for dinner, which was followed by free time. This meant banging on the piano, playing ping-pong, or doing whatever else you do to relax. Then came the last session of the day, given by Joyce Hertko of the International Office, which dealt with the diversity in the IIT Community. When this was over, it was time for the bomfire, roasting marshmallows, looking at the stars, and other nocturnal activities. The next morning brought breakfast and then a talk by Dana Wilson (Assistant Dean of Students) on recruiting and retaining volunteers. Dan Waldstein (Director of Placement) gave the last talk ofthe day, which was on making meetings fun. After a day and a half of"intensive learning experiences," we were ready to turn our brains off and just have fun swinging on the swings, playing tennis with Sheila Magrath, playing with the kittens, playing volleyball and football, and of course, chowing down on some more ofthe great food. The last event of the day was awaited with great anticipation, because we would finally see the skits which various groups of us had been planning. We would finally find out what Steve Schuette needed that plunger for. It would be impossible to describe the skits. You will have to view the videotape if you want to see forty-five minutes of insanity by mature? college students. By 3:30, we were all done, packed up, and back on the bus ready to go home. Many of us couldn't believe we had only been there one day, because it felt like aweek since we left IIT. This may sound sappy, but it's true. We all had a great time, and many of us are planning to go again next year. If you don't think that a weekend in the middle of nowhere can be more fun than a party at the frats, you'll just have to come next year and fing out for your self. |
