March 12, 2018
Dear family and friends,The Yellowstone crew is on our third day unplugged and we are surpassingly relieved to be away from our devices! In fact, we are so busy working and playing that we hardly have time to miss anything from our normal lives! But rest assured, those quiet moments right before our heavy heads hit our pillows at night, or as our eyes take in the wild horizon of the world’s first national park, we wish we could be sharing it with you. We are taking a tremendous amount of incredible photos the old fashioned way - on cameras! While we don’t have any way to upload and share these photos with you until we return, we guarantee an awesome video and slides to present to you on ECS night. In the mean time, when Ms. Hanson gets access to her stowaway cell phone (which resides comfortably at the lodge during the day), she’ll send updates and pictures of smiling faces.We can’t wait to tell you our stories!Love,Lewis, Joosung, Sabryn, Tyler, Kate, Bijan, Autumn, Hina, Aidan, Brooke, Owen, Ben, Ty, Greg, and Natalie
And now, for the handwritten blog post from Lewis D. ‘18…
What does it truly mean to be a leader? How do we effectively work as a team so that everyone learns efficiently, is safe, and enjoys themselves? Today was our first full day in Yellowstone National Park. We have begun to not only formulate but answer the stated questions and more. You may contemplate how and why these inquiries have arisen. They come from our short but nonetheless meaningful snowshoe trek today. For some of us, it meant losing any sense of pride and allowing our peers to help us in our struggles. Of course, this dynamic wouldn’t function without experienced leaders willing to slow down and pay attention to others’ needs. I personally learned that to be a better leader, one must care not only for his peers but also himself. I usually try to lead by example, but I have attempted to become a more vocal leader. It is critical to realize that group dynamics and leadership go hand-in-hand, and it is a relationship that continues to grow among all of us.
