Blog prompt # 5 on team work by ivan allen

Blog prompt # 5 on team work

By: Ivan Allen

I think this team can do very well. It’s just even though we use Logan’s strategy of ignoring the little stuff there are still a lot of petty stuff going on  other than our own issues (which we don’t always have time to take care of) things like depression wears on us. Which the weariness of it goes to the point where we break down every once and a while and need to be redirected.

On the good side of things when we aren’t bickering with each other we get lot of things done within short amounts of time. That of which leads to our team being in an overall better mood which even makes things even more great and time manageable.

Will Calland's Outer Banks Expedition

On this expedition we went fishing, surfing, jumping off of giant sand dunes, sightseeing, kite flying, shopping, ice cream eating, and sand flea hunting on the beaches. This was by far one of the best expeditions that I have ever been on in my entire time of being here for the last two semesters.

Our car ride was very surprisingly short. It was at the most 8 hours long and I got some good resting time on the ride there and back. Towards the end of the ride as well as the day, we had gotten a little bit lost and when we looked at the directions we saw that we had passed the County Line campground. So we had to turn around. We were in a little back road and we saw a house that had a drive way that we could turn around in and we were trying to do it as quickly and as quietly as we could. But suddenly, the lights came on inside the house and a man came outside. At first we thought that we saw a gun in his hand, later to be told that Judson was kidding and the man had just had a flashlight.

 When we got to our campsite it was really damp but there seemed to be no signs of mosquitoes but then after a minute or so we started to get uninvited guests that decided to make themselves at home on our arm, legs, and faces. It was a good thing we got that Yard Guard from the store because the mosquitoes there were huge!

We left the next day because we could not tolerate the bugs there. We next went to the Rodanthe water sports campground, which we stayed at for the rest of our time there until we headed back home. The sunsets were beautiful there. Here is one of them that I took a picture of.                                                                             

The mosquitoes weren’t nearly as bad as before and that night I slept like a baby.

Next morning we went to jockeys ridge in Kitty Hawk and we spent our time there making fools of ourselves jumping off the edge of the dunes.

When we got back to our campsite, Judson took us all fishing in the surf. Nolan was the only person who caught anything and it was a 2 foot long skate, which is a member of the shark family.                    

That night there was a nor eastern storm and it was very very windy outside. It was so windy that the other tent flipped over and Sophie had to help the kids pin it back down in the ground.

The next day we went to jockeys ridge and flew Sophie’s kites on our fishing rods. We were even able to get her penguin pup there as well. Harris tried to get his GoPro camera on the kite and it worked a little bit but the kite struggled with the weight of it.

 Two days later we left the outer banks. I was very unhappy that we had to leave and I will never forget the fun times that our group had there. I hope every one back home is having a good time and I hope you enjoyed my blog, PEACE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OBX trip james bisland

Blog

James Bisland

4/3/12

My SOAR experience so far has been quite interesting. Being my first semester, I have learned a lot of really awesome things. I have had a really good time so far and I have been a great leader to this team.

One thing I’ve done well this semester is probably my motivation skills towards my fellow peers and even my base and field staff. Another good thing is my activeness towards this group in workout and pushing us through our work so we can have fun. Usually I motivate my team in the right way but I have made some slip-ups. I have gotten people to side with me on the wrong things, but I am improving drastically.

One thing I haven’t done so well with would be following a strategy that Logan made in Costa Rica about a few people and it has been really hard to follow but I am pushing myself to follow that and by the end I will be using the strategy easily. The strategy that we are working on is to ignore the bad/ negative behavior from some group members and include them when they are being positive, so they will feel wanted in the group.

When I leave SOAR, I will have learned a lot about my life and also a lot of good life lessons that I have learned over the 4 months I have been here. I am excited to go home and use these life skills and show my friends and family how much I have changed here at SOAR and tell them to go.

Alex's Blog

Alex Solomon                                                 BLOG                                                                    4/2/12

I have learned so much on this expedition. The first thing that I learned this expedition, that has helped me become a better person is, something that will really benefit me in the future. It is my ability to take a horrible, situation and turn it into a learning experience. For example, when I received a consequence of loss of privilege, I did not get the consequence again because I found out what I shouldn’t of done and I fixed it. I think that this branches out to cover many a thing, since what I learned promotes continual learning.

The second thing I learned on this expedition was the ability to cope with supreme annoyance. I am able to take a very annoying thing or person, and just embrace as well as forget it.

This has been my blog this week

alex r obx

 4/3/12

This trip to the Outer Banks was fun. We had to drive nine hours to the Banks. Once we got there we were getting attacked by bugs (thank you Thor). The place we first camped at was right next to an alligator refuge. We stayed at that place for 2 days.

Some activities we did when we were in the Outer Banks were bird watching, surfing, fishing, swimming and sand dunes. When we went surfing there were 4-5 foot waves. We also went fishing a lot and Nolan was the only one to catch a  fish. Well actually he caught a Skate I didn’t catch any but I still had a ton of fun.. A Skate is a shark but it looks like a sting ray. 

My favorite part was the HISTORY of the Outer Banks. The visitor centers we went to were very interesting and very interactive. I forget what visitor center it was but they had a jester costume and it was pretty sick. I think I might get one when I get home and troll people in Mall of America. I also found a lot of shark teeth in OBX. Jockeys Ridge is a huge sand dune and it was really cool. I jumped of the sand dunes like 1 million times and I tried to do killers up the sand dunes and it was super hard. 

I think this trip was the best trip for learning the history I have been on. I hope to go back someday in my life. 

Harris Rothman's Blog

Boy do I have some stories to tell you! These past two weeks we have been in Costa Rica. We went to San Jose, La Fortuna and Manuel Antonio. The trip has been awesome. I have been to Costa Rica before but going with Logan and S.O.A.R. made the experience completely new.

San Jose 3:00 pm local time: Our plane touched down at San Jose international Airport, we walked through customs, which was surprisingly empty. We went to baggage claim to collect our bags. Then we met our driver His name was Willie. From there we drove to the backpackers hostel in San Jose. After settling in we all got up and went to a market in a square near our hostel. Then that night we walked around the market district and got dinner. It was an awesome place.

La Fortuna 5 o'clock p.m: After riding through the stunning countryside for a few hours it was nice to get back in our cabanas. The next day we went horseback riding up the side of the volcano. Then after that we went and chilled some natural hot springs that are heated by the volcano itself. The day after that we went on a canopy zip line tour. We were right near the bottom of the volcano. I would love to go back there to explore someday.

Manuel Antonio 2:00 pm local time:  This was my favorite part of the trip. I got to go surfing again.  I got a whole bunch of wave. We also got to walk through a small Rainforest. I was considering buying a sword fish sword but in the end I didn’t. After this we went back to San Jose.

I can’t wait to go back to Costa.

Will Calland's Costa Rica expedition

On this expedition we went to Costa Rica. This was by far my favorite expedition so far. This was my first time out of the country. In fact, this was my first time even leaving this land mass. I was very happy that we were flying there. I have only flown about ten times if you are including the flight back as well. When we first got to the Charlotte airport I was very pumped for the flight. My favorite part of the flight is the takeoff and the landing. I like the takeoff because I am a car lover and I live for the feeling of being molded into the seat behind you and the feeling of acceleration. Same as the landing except that you are being thrown forward and the only thing that is keeping you from smashing head first, into the person in front of you is the seat belt. Same as a car except with some car when you floor the brakes, as soon as you stop you must wait until your eyes have been rightly inserted into your eye sockets.

Our flight was not delayed and we got right onto the plane and in about ten minutes we were heading for the runway.

 This is a 757 which is the plane we took to Costa Rica and back.

We took off and our flight only lasted about three hours and then we began our descent. This surprised me because I was expecting a flight that was at least going to be 5 hours or more. When we landed we had to go through customs and Logan had told us that these people didn’t mess around at all. Now, I am not saying Logan doesn’t know what he is talking about, but the lady I was sent to didn’t try to make me uncomfortable. She wasn’t mean but she wasn’t a very talkative person either and in less than two minutes we were done and I was moving on.

Next, we met our trip tour guide, Willie. He was one of the coolest dudes ever. He had a pimped out van with l.e.d lights and movie screens in the front and back of the van. Our first stop was to the Backpackers hostel in the heart of San Jose. The sign at the front door was a little weird considering we weren’t even close to the beach. It had a picture of a turtle with a surfboard at the beach. I liked it there because everyone was very peaceful and calm there. 

Then once we were done with that we had a tour of San Jose and we tried a lot of food, which was all great. Then we headed for la Fortuna. We first went to a waterfall where we swung in with a rope swing. The next we went to the hot springs and horseback riding up a volcano. My favorite part of being there was by far the zip lining and going downs the giant slide in the hot springs. We also went to a little fair where everyone went as pale as a blank sheet of paper after being on a spinning ride.

 Then we went to Manuel Antonio. This was by far my favorite place. We went surfing, boogie boarding, bodysurfing, and sand eating at the beach. I did however get a sunburn towards the end of the trip that was so bad that whenever I bent backwards at all, I would get a serious dose of pain. The snow cones they had there were so different and better than I have ever tasted. They put this stuff called Leche on it, which I guess was a kind of flavoring. It was kind of like caramel, except a different color and less strong aftertaste! I loved it there and I really want to go back with my family during this summer break. This was one of the most incredible places I have ever been to and I will never forget it.