Class XIII Day 2: Little Blood, Lotta Sweat, No Tears

I have this new app on my phone that has officially made me the happiest intern on Earth: BlogPress. I've been uploading photos from my iPhone to this post throughout the day, and it only takes a second. Usually, I sit on my computer and wait for at least 30 minutes for all of my pictures to upload to the internet. That means less sleep for me. And I need sleep, or I am not fun. An even bigger plus: our bus has wi-fi, so I can upload the photos with my phone without using data, and then I can use my laptop to type without wearing out my thumbs.

All of this comes with a minor sacrifice: the pictures appear at first to be of terrible quality. I'm looking into how to fix that. However, don't be discouraged, because if you simply click on each picture, you can see the picture in it's largest format with perfect quality. I'm gonna live with that one drawback for today simply because we will be getting up at 5:00 for PT at Fort Sill tomorrow (Tuesday) and I need a bit of rest!


Today was so much fun. We all got a bit of sun, learned about teamwork, and got to sweat a lot. There's nothing like the great outdoors. In my opinion, there's also nothing like ropes courses. I love them for the thrill they provide.

We began our day with breakfast at the Hampton Inn in Bricktown and headed to TeamQuest Ropes Course on the University of Oklahoma campus. For the first half, we stretched and then did several physical activities that focused on working as a team. We played "Have you ever?", the "Tusk" game (a version of the human snake game if you have ever played it), and another game that involved cards. Each person had one card from a deck and was to be treated with either a little or a lot of reverence based on their number from the other participants. They couldn't speak, however, so it was tricky. Then they had to try to line up according to where they thought they might lie on the scale.

Stretching as a group

"Have You Ever" game.

The "Tusk" game.

The last person to be tagged in the tusk game. 

The royalty.

Then we did a teambuilding activity using the climbing wall. Each person from the whole group would somehow have to make it over the wall. There were several catches, however. One person could only help push a person from below four times, and once over the wall and up on the platform, you could only help pull someone up twice. These guys were quick though, and they got through the activity with relative ease. They were really fun to watch as they interacted, especially now that they understood each other from the perspective taught to them last night during the U-Zoo.

















After the climbing wall activity, we ate boxed Jason's Deli lunches and rehydrated. We were lucky to have plenty of shade during most of the morning with the trees surrounding us. It got a little bit brighter after lunch when we moved over to the high ropes section. Several different stations were set up and four groups were formed. Each group was able to do at least two of the four high ropes activities, and everyone who wanted to do the zip-line was able to do so. The best part of seeing all of this was watching several students overcome some very real, very present fears as they climbed 30 ft. in the air, depending fully upon their peers and a half-inch thick piece of rope. We didn't wear our giant red billboard nametags outside, so it was also fun to see everyone, including myself, really make an attempt to memorize names and faces. I definitely feel like this group is full of very relational people, because I'm already seeing close friendships forming, and they are all very inclusive. That's encouraging, and it's a great sign for how the rest of the week will go.






























After the ropes course, we headed to Main Street to the Sarkeys Foundation. Sarkeys Foundation has donated over $85 million to nonprofits across the state, allowing countless agencies to help all kinds of needs. One of their services that they provide is the use of their facilities to non-profits. That works out perfectly for Youth Leadership Oklahoma, because Leadership Oklahoma is a non-profit! We learned a bit about the history of Sarkeys Foundation and Sarkeys Sarkeys himself (not a typo, it's really the founder's name), and then learned one of my favorite facts about our state: We are in the top five states in the United States for charitable giving. After watching the response of the people of our state to the recent tornadoes, I really don't doubt it, and I wouldn't be surprised if we were more than top five after that. That gives me goosebumps.

After we learned about where we were and its significance, we devoured (speaking for myself) Hideaway Pizza that was donated to us by the foundation. Then, Justice Jim Winchester, Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, was kind enough to spend his evening helping us understand a little more about how our justice system operates. He didn't just tell us though. He engaged us in the process. Each student was given several theoretical court cases and asked to make a judgement. They had three judgements to choose from: deferral, felony, or incarceration. I'm going to be honest, I am making the middle one up because I can't remember what he called it. I should probably review that, because I'm taking the LSAT in a few months to go to law school. Anyway, this activity was incredibly entertaining (for me at least), because we got to really see the students think critically. Their opinions came out, and sometimes they were rather strong. That was supposed to happen. It made everyone think from multiple angles about the same issue. The best part? Nobody was wrong. Every single opinion mattered, and everyone learned from it!

The beautiful Sarkeys Foundation meeting room. 

The Honorable Jim Winchester, aka current YLOK student Davis Winchester's dad!

Our grub. 

After we finished up with our "You Be The Judge" activity, we wrapped up, packed up, and headed to Lawton. Everyone is currently making a splash in the outdoor pool and hot tub while I finish up this post. We'll all be in our rooms by 10:15 so we can get up before the sun. Tomorrow we'll be doing PT at Fort Sill, shooting at a simulated gun range, visiting the barracks, and eating breakfast with real soldiers. I have a feel there's going to be a lot of new appreciation for our country and our armed forces after tomorrow morning. After that, we'll head to the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, then take a long ride up to Tulsa, where we will enjoy an evening on the Arkansas River.

Our bus has Wi-fi and we couldn't be happier!

Today was an absolute blast. We are all fairly worn out from being outdoors most of the day. There were only a couple of small scratches and cuts, a lot of sweat, and nobody cried that I knew of. I'd say it was a successful day.

Before I sign off, I'll leave you with a couple of quotes from some of our quite entertaining students:

"I'm really tired. And hungry. Or maybe just one of them. I can never really tell if it's one or the other, or both. It's so confusing." - Philip Ngorima after coming down from one of the ropes course activities.

"My life is a constant battle between being social and getting enough sleep." - Mishana Ellison. I hear ya girl. Try college. Then you add "getting enough studying done" to that mix. Then you get to pick two of them. Just wait ;)

Extremely thankful for today! Ready for tomorrow. See you soon!