What happened?

Image from Google Maps:


From March 5th – March 8th my school had its annual Creativity Week, and as I mention earlier, I was going to help Stephen Vrla and Lee Bryant lead a camping trip. Originally Lee had planned out to camp at Lake Houston, but because the park closes on Tuesdays we weren’t able to camp there. She chose another location, Big Thicket National Preserve, but this also didn’t work out. Lee and Stephen ended up choosing Sam Houston State Park, which is north of Houston, and that’s where we ended up camping at.

Honestly, the camping trip was more of a learning experience for me. I had planned out to teach the students about outdoor leadership, but I feel that I was the one who learned about outdoor leadership. Throughout the trip I was learning about leadership by being in charge, for the first time, of a group of 19 students and giving them instructions. I felt that I had a many mistakes here and there, but I’m glad that I had those mistakes because they uncovered many things that didn’t know. For example, I had to find a way to get the students together and quiet down before a gathering. I didn’t know how to do this at first; I would only ask them quietly to settle down, but towards the end of the trip, I got better at this and began to properly use my authority.

Throughout the trip, I felt like I didn’t pull my own weight because I didn’t do as much things as I wanted to, and Stephen and Lee were helping me out with things I should have already figured out. I felt like I wasn’t doing anything right, but, now that I look back at the trip, I was feeling this way because I was learning.

My Trailer

This is a trailer I created for my Senior Project.

I am "The Leader"

Picture by Richard Juarez; PNW 6/9/10 - 7/9/10


While I was reading “Outdoor Leadership” by John Graham, I came over a passage that said that a leader should see him/herself as “The Leader”. It’s all about confidence. Even if the trip completely fails, a good leader should still have self-confidence and manage to keep everything under control.

This caught my attention because as Creativity Week comes closer, I fell as though I’m going to fail the purpose of my project. I feel as though everything is going to go out of control and Stephen and Lee will have to step in and pick up my slack. As I read this passage, I was told that it doesn’t matter if the trip fails; part of being a leader is being able to keep a cool head when everything isn’t going according to plan. Being a leader means that I will have to be confident in my decisions and keep the trip alive if something wrong happens.

Change of Location

Last Friday, I had another meeting with Stephen, Lee, and the students who are going to attend the Creativity Week camping trip, and Lee informed us that there is a possibility that we weren’t going to be able to camp at Lake Houston because the park is closed on Tuesday. She said we can work around this, but we won’t be able to camp at the park for two days as we planned.

After the meeting, Stephen, Lee, and I looked up different parks, and agreed that we would research different park over the weekend so we can find another location. Stephen informed me on Tuesday that Lee found another location called Big Thicket National Preserve. Stephen said that both him and Lee liked the area, and I agreed with them as well after I looked it up.

So now we are not camping at Lake Houston anymore, we are heading out to Big Thicket National Preserve this coming Monday. Here is a picture of where Big Thicket is located.

Image is from Google Maps.

Who’s on board?

So far I’ve heard from two people whom are willing to be on my panel. One of them is Stephen Vrla and the other is Rob Christy. Stephen had already told me he will help me out, but this is just a formal “Yes”. I’ve been planning the trip with Stephen, and so far everything is going smoothly.

I haven’t talked about my project with Rob Christy, but I will email him and explain where I’m at with my project. I will also meet him in person during our school’s Gala which is on February 23rd. I will be sitting at his table, so I hope we can get to know each other and talk about my project as well.

The Dream Team

The advisory panel for my project will consist of four people; my mentor, one teacher from my school, a board member from my school, and an expert in the field of outdoor leadership. So far I have three members whom are willing to help me out with my project: Robert Vasquez, Stephen Vrla, and Rob Christy. Robert Vasquez is my mentor, Stephen Vrla is a teacher and dorm parent for the middle school boys, and Rob Christy is a board member who expressed interest in helping me with my project. The only person I’m missing is an expert in the field. One of my class mates, Ana Flores, said she knows a member of the Sierra Club and gave me his email, so I could ask if he is willing to be on my panel. I’m almost done completing my panel, and hopefully I can fill in the last spot soon.

The Book is Here!

I ordered a book from Barnes & Nobel called Outdoor Leadership. I recently received the book, and it looks very promising. I think it will be a useful tool for preparing me for the camping trip during Creativity Week. The book consists of teaching different techniques of leadership and how to successfully preform those techniques. The book also teaches the reader other aspects such as how to deal with stress, how to resolve conflict, and how believe in yourself. I feel that this book will be a strong stepping stone on which I can build my camping trip off of.

Here is a link for you to preview the book: Outdoor Leadership