RYLA on three… 1,2,3 RYLA! On May 1st around 250 students arrived at Camp Ramah in Ojai, California. The day started with an icebreaker. The students had to get in a group of people they had never met and answer questions. They rotated based on the number required per group so that they would talk to new people each time. After the icebreaker, everyone was introduced to the head of the organization and the counselors. RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. For four days these students had to be leaders and do activities as a group, as well as socialize. Everyone was split into color groups. The color groups were Green, Teal, Red, Orange, Blue, Cocoa, Yellow and Purple. The students were also split into different cabins with people from different color groups and then went to go eat lunch. After settling down everyone was split into their groups and for two hours introduced themselves to the people they would spend the next four days with. Each color group had to come up with a name and a chant that corresponds with their color. It was soon time for dinner where the students ate tacos. After every dinner, each night the students had a guest speaker. On night one, Jim Brogan, a former NBA player, was the guest speaker. To end the day, the students were allowed to have two hours of free time where they could do any activity they wanted which included rock climbing, laser tag, a fun carnival ride, a bouncy house slide or inflatable basketball.
Every morning, everyone would gather up to do the pledge of allegiance and afterwards everyone would head on over to eat breakfast. The first activity that began on the second day was “goal setting” which was an activity where the students had to make a set of long term and short term goals for themselves. The next event was “public speaking,” where the group had to use ethos, pathos, and logos to sell an item they had to make up. They had to give a speech to promote their item. The students then were free to go to lunch where they ate hamburgers then continued with the leadership fundamentals. The “leadership fundamentals” activity was where the students took a survey to see the type of leader they are. The four type of leaders are Driver; which is someone who likes to be independent and do their own work with no help, Amiable; which is someone who likes to listen and is all about teamwork, Expressive; which is someone who takes control of the situation and likes to be a talker but involves others as well, and lastly there’s Analytical; which are the ones who like to be independent and focus on work. Everyone learned what their strengths are and how to work better with others. Then, “team building” was the next activity where the team had to work together as a team to complete challenges such as carrying a yoga ball across a playground without letting it touch the ground or without using hands. Communication was key with this challenge as well with the other challenges. Indigo Partridge explains how “team building was my favorite activity because we got to put our leadership styles into practice and work together.” Later that day, after dinner the guest speaker Emmanuel Gentinetta, the former world record holder for the fastest and youngest person to bike across the entire length of the Pan-American Highway from Alaska to the southernmost tip of Argentina, gave a speech about his experience and how he pushed through everything. To end the night, a talent show went on where the students were allowed to participate or cheer on the others.
On day three of the retreat, after eating breakfast, the teams had “character and ethics” where the students were faced with a series of complicated questions to determine whether they agreed, strongly agreed, disagreed or strongly disagreed to determine their ethics/morals. Then they had to determine words that described their characters and make a card of pictures that represent their description words. The next activity was one that was hard for everyone. It was “diversity,” which was an activity that left an impact on everyone at the retreat where they were allowed to talk about hard topics that aren’t usually talked about such as any experiences with suicide, divorces and alcohol/drug abuse. This activity was one that opened many people’s minds to think that you never truly know what someone goes through, and even if they seem happy on the outside, they might be struggling internally. Everyone was set free for lunch and then went to “strong body, strong mind” where the students talked about how to better their lifestyle and what they can do to stay healthy and in shape. The next activity was “hunter, tiger, gun” where the students had to play a game similar to tag and rock paper scissors. This was a physical game many people enjoyed. The students also had to make a house out of a rope while blindfolded as a team. The last activity of this experience was the ropes course, where the students could choose to go on the 50 ft high ropes course and end it with a zip line or the 30 ft high ropes course that was easier than the higher one. The ropes course was designed to be completed with the help of a partner or a group of four. Completing the challenges required coordination and communication. Brianna De Los Rios explains how “My favorite activity at RYLA was the ropes course. It taught me true teamwork and how much you depend on others to succeed. You couldn’t be selfish and only think about yourself or you would go down.” After the ropes course, the students headed to dinner where they ate lasagna and heard from the guest speaker Roger Crawford, a man who was physically disabled at birth. He talked about how his disability didn’t stop him from playing sports and doing activities. To end the last night of the retreat, there was a dance where everyone was allowed to get dressed up and enjoy the night.
On the last day, everyone started the day by packing and saying goodbye to their cabin. After breakfast, the students had free time to say goodbye or to ask people to sign their shirts given to them by RYLA. “Double back” was the last activity where everyone said goodbye to their color group and said something nice about every person in the group. To end the experience, there was a closing ceremony where there was a speaker of each color group, awards were given out, thank yous were said to everyone who helped. RYLA was an experience of a lifetime, one that will always be remembered by everyone who attended.
