Flag Football

                Imagine you assemble a team that consists of a group of people who have never worked together before, and have little to no prior experience. Some of the people know each other, but some have never met the other members of the group. Now, immediately, you throw them into the thick of competition, pitting them against teams who have prior experience. What are the chances of this team succeeding? Not great. This is what it was like for my flag football team this fall. However, by the end of the season, we had gone from a dysfunctional group of guys to legitimate championship contenders through experience, familiarity, feedback, and accountability.

                At the beginning of the season, since our team was performing so poorly, it was difficult for members of the team to trust our captain. We felt as though the team should be going a different direction than where he was leading us, but no one wanted to tell him they disagreed with his decision-making. After all, he was the captain! But, as the season went on, the team members began to give our captain feedback. All of the sudden, the dynamics of the team changed, and so did our winning percentage. We provided him with suggestions and told him about events on the field he might not have seen. As a result, he was able to adapt and lead our team better than he ever had before. Also, as team members, we started to keep each other accountable on the field. Before, we had felt uncomfortable offering advice out of fear we might offend one another. But once we started calling out guys to cover or plays to watch for, we never stopped. The effects were immediate and obvious. As our comfort level and familiarity with each other increased, so did our teamwork. As a result, we began to win more often.

Through this experience, I learned how to follow orders whether I agree with them or not. I also discovered that even though your leader might seem to be taking you the wrong direction, you should trust him or her. However, I learned it’s OK to give feedback to a leader at appropriate times, and the leader will often embrace your suggestions and comments. Finally, my teammates and I realized our captain had an easier job when we kept each other accountable on the field. This level of accountability is hard to establish with people who barely know each other, but as we knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses better, we accounted for them and produced at levels we never had before. Through flag football, I realized sometimes only time can help a team fully develop. This will be important to realize in a job which often involves working in teams.

5kRunDead

This fall, I volunteered for the 5kRunDead in Indianapolis. The 5kRunDead is a national event to benefit Alzheimer’s Disease where participants run through a zombie-infested course. The goal is to make it to the end without losing all of your flags. The event needed volunteers for setup, registration, guiding runners, and a few zombie volunteers. I was able to help with setup and registration and also got to be a zombie! From this experience, I learned important volunteering traits that will benefit me in future situations. I learned to jump in and fill a need, which I did with helping set up the registration tables. Around me, I noticed other people being willing to help wherever they could. Additionally, I learned the importance of being selfless. If everyone tried to only do the job they wanted to do, nothing would have gotten done. However, the volunteers put aside their personal wants and worked for the good of the event.

In the future, I will realize the importance of jumping in and being selfless. There will be many times where a job needs to get done but no one wants to do it. Part of teamwork is being willing to be the person to step up and do the job, and my experience at the 5kRunDead has prepared me to do just that.

Campus Crusade (Cru)

For the past few weeks, I have been attending Campus Crusade on Thursday nights at IUPUI. What stood out to me, and why I want to keep going back, is the obvious leadership within the group. For example, one night, an older member of Cru saw me and realized I was a new member. He immediately came up to me, introduced himself, and then sat with me for the rest of the night. He was making sure I felt welcome, and he definitely succeeded. It’s amazing how actions that are so small can do so much to make someone feel accepted! This is a lesson I will never forget. It gave me a desire to be in his position someday, so that I can pour into others the way he poured into me.

 This is an experience I can apply to almost every area of my life. I could do something as simple as talk to the people who sit near me in class, asking how they are and how their week is going. As I become older, I can reach out to underclassmen the way I was reached out to at Cru. Finally, I will use this lesson in future work environments. There will not only be new people I can mentor, but there will be people who I see every day that I can reach out to. I want to transfer this experience into all areas of my life, so that I treat everyone with the acceptance I was shown at Cru.