Fall All Staff Training

August 28th-29th, 2009

HCC, Varna, NY

So far, I don't know how well I've explained the whole COE concept, so here it is in a nutshell:  Cornell Outdoor Education is a very large group of students who are really passionate about some outdoor activity or other, and through COE they teach courses to other undergrads to share their expertise.  COE runs courses on everything from backpacking, mountain biking, and rock climbing, to caving, kayaking, and (my area of expertise) tree climbing.  This means that, when ALL the COE staff get together in the fall for one giant training session, you get a huge jumble of very enthusiastic, very individual type individuals.

This was my first all-staff training, since last year I was hired shortly after it happened, so it was my first time really meeting everyone in one place-- which means all 150 of us.  The event involved a lot of food (COE really knows how to feed people), camping out at the challenge course, a lot of get to know you activities, and various education seminars.

I think they must have special-ordered rainy, cold weather just to give us all a lesson in weather preparedness.  One of the COE full-time staff likes to use the quote, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choices."  In spite of the general wetness, we stayed relatively dry by camping in yurts (and of course because no one was wearing cotton pants-- cotton kills!)

I got to sit in on seminar about different leadership/group interaction models, and one about basic first aid.  The afternoon saw everyone splitting up and doing what we do best-- actual outdoor activities.  The idea was to try something that wasn't in your program area, so for me that was sea kayaking.

We went out to Lake Cayuga, and the first thing we did was "wet exits," meaning you flip underwater in your kayak, then, from the upside down position, take of the spray skirt and get out of the boat.  It was a little freaky at first, but not nearly as hard as you would think.  Then learned some of the basic strokes before having to retreat to the van for a lightning drill as a big storm rolled in.  It rolled right out again pretty quickly though, and we were able to get back on the water and tour around a little.  I picked up a lot of helpful tips on form and maneuverability that I had never quite grasped before.

We also started work on rolling, which meant practicing tipping the boat side to side, then bringing your body so that it lay parallel to the water and using just your hips to pull the boat on top of you, then tip it upright again.  My sides were sore for days, but apparently I had the advantage of "spinal flexibility" over the other guys in the seminar-- women can natural tip their hips farther and with better coordination than men.  We ended the seminar with a little tour around the lake, paddling in a very pleasant light rain.

All in all, fall all-staff training was informative, entertaining, and exhausting, AND I finally got my staff shirt!