Adventures in Leadership visits West Virginia

A tradition that has spanned two decades continued this year when students in the Adventures in Leadership Program traveled to West Viriginia in late June. This First-Year Summer Experience is sponsored by Campus Recreation and the Center for Leadership and is offered twice over two weeks and allows for 32 students each week to partake in the adventure.

The groups spend the first night on campus and are divided into specific small groups that they will be with for the remainder of the trip. The next morning, the small groups go through the Elon Challenge Course and develop leadership and communication skills through various elements such as the Trust Fall. Then it is off to West Virignia to go rock climbing, rappeling and hiking the first day along with cooking their own meal that night.

The next two days are spent on the New River whitewater rafting and camping overnight. This year the water level was higher than usual so all of the participants were able to experience Class IV and V rapids. The participants spend their last night back on campus and enjoy the last group activities which includes time for team and self-reflection. The next morning features a brunch and a fun, casual awards banquet in which the groups conduct skits and are nominated for superlatives.

This year the student faciliators who led the groups were Caila Yates, Claire Rayburn, Kristen McGee, Abbie Dalton, Colin Langham, Ryan Gill, Ben Bridges and Alex McLellan. The student coordinator who supervised the participants and facilitators was Michelle Stocker. The faculty/staff advisers for the trip were Carol Smith, Wally Bixby, Stacey Rusterholz and Brandon MacCallum.