March 28, 2005
Published on April 26, 2005 By boilerbutterfly In Misc
Today in class we had to get into groups and pretend we were in the desert stranded after a plane crash. We had 15 items that we had to rank in order of importance individually, then as a team. It really showed me what leadership and team were because when I did this exercise individually my score was TWO TIMES the amount we got as a team. (The point was to have it as low as possible.) Our team leader appointed the person with the most outdoor skills (brandon's an eagle scout!) and he went through and explained to us why each of these items were important and what we could use them for if we were stranded. It was nice to have someone make sense of all of it and take a place as the leader. It showed me that depending on the situation, anyone can rise as a leader and make a difference in people's lives. In this instance, it was life or death and we would have survived thanks to the skills of one person. If he hadn't decided to step up and be a leader, then our clan surely wouldn't have survived in the desert on our own. It makes me realize that when I am in situations where I know what to do and what needs done, I always step up to help everyone. But here, I had no idea about any of the things that we would need to survive. This is why teams are so important and it's a great way to teach us how to work together!
Comments
on Apr 26, 2005
Great lesson learned!!

The best advice I've ever heard for desert survival (or survival in any remote area for that matter):

1) Think like "Fred Flintstone". In other words, don't look at an object for what it was meant to do, look at it for what you can do with it.

2) Think "backwards". In the desert, night is day and humans are the animals. Kind of a twist on "when in Rome". To desert animals, that is home, follow them and you'll find the water, and the shade. Sleep during the day, be active at night.

The best lesson you seemed to learn though is, you don't know everything, but you aren't ignorant. When you do know, speak up, when you don't, listen!