Achieve at Sectionals by Nicole Hart

This year our Sectional Conference was held at Kutztown University. The day started with check-in, where we were all separated into different colored teams for the fellowship events that were later in the day. I participated in the LEADS course Achieve which was a 3 hour long seminar on group work. We would learn from a PowerPoint and then do a group activity to supplement it. The activities were meant to make us feel awkward with each other so that we could break down barriers quickly with the people we did not know. My favorite activity was one where we were split into three groups and told to stand in a line. Each person was given a piece of rope and then we all held the string of the person next to us as well. The person in the middle had a longer orange string that we were told to tie a knot in without breaking the line we still had. This required us to get very close to each other and climb over people we did not know. My group ended up with a very small circle that I had to fit myself through so that we could complete our knot. Personally, I usually do not like activities that require physical contact to that extent with people I do not know but this one was a puzzle and fun at the same time. This was definitely my favorite part of Sectionals. The rest of the day consisted of fellowships and different types of meetings that we all attended. All in all it was a very successful day!