As part of the preparations for our field trips and seminars, all of us, students enrolled in the course are required to undergo a 10-hour interpersonal activity. The said activity aims to acquaint us to our classmates before we leave for our trip to Manila and its neighboring cities. The first time I heard about this, I was a bit disgusted. I know that the said activity aims to help us develop our social and interpersonal skills but to be honest, I never liked participating in team building activities. For me, a self-proclaimed introvert, team building activities are a scourge upon earth. They isolate people like me, a population of profoundly valuable individuals who like to solve problems on their own or in close groups of equally calm and thoughtful people. Making us participate in goofy, trivial games that are clearly irrelevant to the work at hand, highlights our sense of feeling fundamentally different and separated. But what can I do? Every student must join the activity.
Finally, 21st of July 2015 has arrived. It is the day of our interpersonal skills and team building activity which was held at the University Hostel conference room. It is located at the second floor of the University Hostel building and it was the first time I entered that room. As usual, I arrived there early, having doubts if I would survive the day. Everybody had someone to talk with, except me, just as I had expected. I wrote my name in the attendance sheet and sat down on a chair near the corner of the room. I knew some people who were present on the event but I didn’t want to be with them because we were not close. I only wanted to sit with my friends, which were still nowhere to be found at that time. I waited for a good 30 minutes, alone, before a friend of mine arrived. My friend and I shared the same feeling towards this event. We sat down on our chairs while quietly observing other participants of the event. It seemed that all, but us, are excited for the event. Time went by and the facilitator of the event has arrived. The room was filled with people I barely know. We started the event a few moments later.
Shortly after the facilitator arrived, our team building activity began. We started off with our first activity. We were divided into groups with at least eight members each. Fortunately, one of my friend was my group mate. I felt a bit relieved knowing that I have someone to talk to through this entire activity. When the grouped was asked to form a circle, I realized that all of my group mates and I belong to the same course. It felt very good to know that I already know my group mates. At least I didn’t have to undergo the awkward and painful process introducing myself to them. Since we were already familiar with each other, we had no problems doing the task given to us by the facilitator. We were asked to write in a piece of Manila paper our expectations for the activities that we would be conducting on that day, the things that we could contribute to our groups and how we were feeling that day. Each of us wrote his or her answers to a piece of paper and then we assigned a group secretary. She was tasked to compile our answers and write them on the Manila paper given to us. While our group secretary was writing, I had the chance to talk to some of my group mates. They seemed nice. We talked about lots of thing like how this activity would go on for the rest of the day, are we excited for our field trip and why most of us were sick during that day. Our conversation was long and we shared a lot of laughs. There is something about that conversation that felt natural. I thought that I must have forgotten what it feels to have a nice and funny conversation with people I don’t really know because for a very long time I was avoiding talking to them. It may sound cliché but it is actually true. After talking to each other, one of my group mates went in front of the class and presented our group’s answers to the questions given to us. After that activity, almost all of the groups had similar answers. All were looking forward to socializing with others.
We proceeded to do our second activity. That time, we were divided into groups with five members each. And that time, I didn’t know my group mates. I have never talked to them yet and it felt very awkward. We were asked to form a circle and we received the instruction from the facilitator. Prior to that, we were given a piece of paper with drawings of different people on it. We were asked to encircle one of the people that we think suits us the most or what describes our personalities the best. After that, we formed our groups then did what the facilitator instructed us to do. We have to share to our group mates why we chose that specific person. Our group then went on with the activity. I was the first one to share about the person I encircled. From the drawings from the paper, I chose to encircle the guy sitting by the tree branch alone and doing nothing. I felt that I was like that guy. I am an easy-going person and I am the kind of person that prefers to be alone. I am also the kind of guy that goes with the flow most of the time. I was expecting that my group mates encircled different and they did but one of them also encircled the same person that I chose. She then explained why she chose that person and we both have similar reasons. My other group mates also shared their reasons and stories. It was a little bit personal for some and I was actually happy that I was given the privilege to listen to them. Once again, I actually felt comfortable with my group mates. There was a part of me that wants to be close friends with them but there is this other part that says I should not because I am a loner and I can live without befriending them.
Our third activity happened after we took a short break. This activity was very personal. We were given a piece of paper and some coloring materials and we were asked to draw our “family dinner” using symbols. It took me a while before I started doing mine because I was not sure if I wanted to share things about my family to people I barely know. I started drawing my family dinner with hopes that I do not get to share it to all of my classmates. During that time, we were all busy drawing and roaming around. I took advantage of the situation and sat beside my friend and talked about the activity so far. We both agreed that it is better than what we've expected. We actually had a little fun. I had high hopes that it would remain fun until the end of the day but I was wrong. When we were finished drawing our family dinner, the facilitator began calling some students to share about what they drew. I was confident that I won’t be called because so far, I have managed to avoid being spotted by our facilitator. But once again, I was wrong. She called my name and asked me what I have realized while doing the activity. I was nervous. I wasn’t sure if I would tell the truth or feed them a bunch lies. All of them were looking at me. That was a very tense moment for me but I told them the truth. I explained to them why I drew my family dinner like that. The facilitator got curious and asked me to elaborate. So I did. I told them my sad family story. After that, I didn’t even know what exactly happened because I was still recovering from the awkward moment I just had. I just knew that the facilitator called another name and by the time she was done talking we had our lunch.
After eating lunch, we headed back to the University Hostel conference room to continue our team activity. When all of us were already there, we started our fourth activity. The fourth activity, for me, was the highlight of the entire team building session. We were once again divided into groups with at least eight members, preferably the same group we had in our first activity. The groups were asked to present their own group identity but there was a twist. Each group would present theirs differently. Some groups were to present it by singing, rapping and others shall present theirs by acting or dancing. We were to presents ours in the form of an advertisement. After receiving the instructions, we formed a circle and started planning. Each group member had a specific role to play for our presentation to be successful. We had some disagreements but we sorted it out in the end. One of us assumed the position of the leader and we gladly followed him because we felt that he was leading our group into doing something good. We respected each other’s ideas. After planning, we a practiced for a few minutes and then we were ready to go. We were the third ones to present. Though it wasn’t the best presentation of the day, we were proud because a bunch of strangers were able to pull off a presentation like that.
We ended the activities by saying a prayer and a pledge. Overall, I actually enjoyed the activity. I take back what I said about making us participate in activities are irrelevant. I have realized that the event we just underwent had benefited us. Here are some of the benefits of the team building event.
Improved Communication
All of the team building activities we did required a lot of talking. At first it didn’t make that much sense but now I know why. The activities were somehow breaking down barriers between individuals. We were encouraged to talk things out so that we would be comfortable with each other. Improved communication would be very important to us when we leave for our field trips and seminars because we would be with the same people for an entire week.
Developed Team Roles
Of all the activities we did, the fourth activity was the one that really showcased our group’s teamwork. As I have stated, our presentation was successful because all of us had roles or work to do for the benefit of the group. None of us complained about it because we knew that we all had to do it. Such activity also allows each member of the team to develop and focus on what they are best at, and allow the team members to find their forte within the team so that everyone can best contribute as an individual while still performing together. One example of this was when of my group mates accepted the role of being a leader. He knew that he can lead our group well so he stepped up. These kind of things would be very important on our FTS because all of us are a team. Each one of us have to do our own part for this trip to become successful.
Better Relationships with Each Other
Perhaps this is the most important thing the team building activities has imparted to us. Before the event started, I was very doubtful and skeptical about it. But after all four activities, I can say that I already feel close to some of my classmates. The activities had helped us develop trust with each other. It had established bonds between us. We may not be best friends but I can say that our relationship as a class improved a lot. If one day of interpersonal activities can do that, what more can a one week trip to Manila do?
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