Exactly one week ago, on Friday, Jun 3 at 9am, our 2011 HOBY Maine Ambassadors started to arrive to the University of New England for a weekend many of them will not soon forget. They checked into their dorms, said goodbye to their parents and joined the rest of the ambassadors for cheering and icebreakers. I expect many of them were pretty freaked out at that point! Most of them did not know any one else there and some of them were away from home for the first time - anxiety was running high.
A quick introduction to the weekend was followed up by our first guest - Keynote Speaker, Will Nelligan. Taking a rather unconventional approach, Will immediately gave them a group challenge and they were working on their first skit as groups! There was no time to ease out of comfort zones - we took them to the edge of the nest and pushed them out... and they flew!
By lunch time, an outside observer would have thought these young men and women had known each other for days, not hours. The afternoon brought more team building activities some in their small groups, where they were becoming more comfortable and others in new groups to once again push them beyond their new comfort limits.
At check in the next day we were already hearing comments like, "I wish this experience would never end!" The morning was spent volunteering at the Northern York County YMCA and the teams worked seamlessly together accomplishing a tremendous amount in a very short amount of time. Ron and Becky from the Y were impressed!
Group close down that night was intense, with ambassadors speaking of the life-long friendships they had made in just two days and the value of the experiences they had during their time at HOBY. There was a lot of laughter and some tears (good ones).
As parents began to arrive for the luncheon on Sunday, I was able to hear the other side of the story - of ambassadors calling home during the weekend so energized and excited about their experience. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to share the HOBY journey with these incredible individuals. I am so grateful to the staff and Junior facilitators who help create an engaging, safe environment for our ambassadors to explore their potential for leadership and personal development. In many ways I am ready to put this year on fast forward so we can do it all over again!
Sydney Clifton - Corporate Board President & Leadership Seminar Chair & HOBY Mama
A quick introduction to the weekend was followed up by our first guest - Keynote Speaker, Will Nelligan. Taking a rather unconventional approach, Will immediately gave them a group challenge and they were working on their first skit as groups! There was no time to ease out of comfort zones - we took them to the edge of the nest and pushed them out... and they flew!
By lunch time, an outside observer would have thought these young men and women had known each other for days, not hours. The afternoon brought more team building activities some in their small groups, where they were becoming more comfortable and others in new groups to once again push them beyond their new comfort limits.
At check in the next day we were already hearing comments like, "I wish this experience would never end!" The morning was spent volunteering at the Northern York County YMCA and the teams worked seamlessly together accomplishing a tremendous amount in a very short amount of time. Ron and Becky from the Y were impressed!
Group close down that night was intense, with ambassadors speaking of the life-long friendships they had made in just two days and the value of the experiences they had during their time at HOBY. There was a lot of laughter and some tears (good ones).
As parents began to arrive for the luncheon on Sunday, I was able to hear the other side of the story - of ambassadors calling home during the weekend so energized and excited about their experience. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to share the HOBY journey with these incredible individuals. I am so grateful to the staff and Junior facilitators who help create an engaging, safe environment for our ambassadors to explore their potential for leadership and personal development. In many ways I am ready to put this year on fast forward so we can do it all over again!
Sydney Clifton - Corporate Board President & Leadership Seminar Chair & HOBY Mama
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