Over winter break, the William Jewell College Pryor Leadership Program Fellows set out on their Outward Bound trip to the Florida Everglades. They packed their bags, printed their boarding passes and prepared to put their leadership and team bonding skills to the test.

The Pryor Leadership Program is a three-year program that aims to develop leadership skills in individuals through experiences in the classroom and through vocational and volunteer internships. Participating in an Outward Bound trip is an integral part of the Pryor Leadership Program.The trip allows Pryor Fellows to utilize the leadership skills they learned in their first Cornerstone Course, while also demonstrating their strengths and weaknesses in trying conditions. The Fellows are tasked with paddling across the Florida Everglades, including having to navigate through mud and mangrove trees, without access to common technology.

“The trip was amazing. It was a roller coaster of emotions but I wouldn’t change a thing. This is by far one of the most amazing trips I’ve ever taken for both the growth of myself as a person and for all of the amazing sights you get to experience. This trip has given me a newfound love for nature and all it has to offer,” said Carman Stephenson, sophomore elementary education major.  

Will Schneider, sophomore political science major and another Pryor Fellow who went on the trip, agreed that it was a life-changing adventure.

“Overall it was an amazing experience. I was very lucky to have the group I did, we all seemed to bring something different to the table. Everyday there was a challenge and one of us stepped up and was exactly what the group needed to keep us paddling forward,” said Schneider.

“I learned a lot about my personal physical strengths and my mental strengths. Since we were rowing for almost two weeks straight, it took a lot of physical commitment and strength to get our group to where we needed to be each night. Overall, I think I gained a lot of perspective, on what I have to offer the world and then just to cherish certain luxuries at home because it’s not a normal thing to have them,” said Sydney Bass, sophomore English and Spanish major.

All of the Pryor Fellows can agree that throughout the experience, their bodies and emotions were tested as they encountered challenges and obstacles in their path. However, these challenges provided a chance to come up with solutions and to problem solve with one another.

“I grew so much throughout this experience. You are pushed to your limits physically, mentally, and emotionally – which can show you a lot about yourself. I learned that I am definitely capable of more than I thought!” said Stephenson.

Having to change one’s regular routine can be quite an adjustment and presents many difficulties in new places and environments. The Fellows had to find ways to develop resilience to these difficulties throughout the trip.

“It’s sort of like you go through withdrawal – from foods that you’re used to eating, from knowing the time every second of the day, from people that you depend on, and really just from typical life. But after those couple first days it was amazing, because the worries of drama on the internet or the millions of homework assignments sort of dissipate and I was able to really enjoy the pure nature around me and the really cool people I got to meet,” said Bass.

Stephenson agreed that the change of environment was a challenge for her.

“I would say that the most difficult part of the trip was being pushed so far out of my comfort zone. You are thrown into a new environment, with a new group of people, and taught a new set of skills all over the course of two weeks. I never found myself comfortable on this trip which is both the best and the worst part,” said Stephenson.

The sense of accomplishment that each crew received when they reached their final destinations made all of the challenges they experienced worthwhile.

“The most rewarding parts of the trip were seeing a beautiful sunrise and sunset everyday. They were always something that the group would stop whatever we were doing and just watch. Then the final day of paddling we all raced to the end and when we got there the feeling of accomplishment was a very rewarding feeling because of how hard our group had worked,” said Schneider.

Stephenson also agreed that making it to their final destination was, for her,  the most rewarding part of the trip.

“I can easily say that making it to the endpoint was the most rewarding part of the trip and one of the most rewarding moments of my life. Once you make it to the end you are worn out and tired but you can also be so proud of all you and your crew achieved. It was an amazing feeling to accomplish such a difficult task with a group of people that you truly grow to love and rely on,” said Stephenson.

The skills of the Pryor Fellows were tested, but by working together and staying positive they were able to lead their crews through the wetlands of the Everglades.

The trip began with the Pryor fellows being divided into three crews of nine to 12 students. They began their first day in Flamingo, which is the southern-most point on the Florida peninsula, and had to make various checkpoints throughout the trip in order to make it back to base camp in Everglade City. Each team took a different path due to weather.

One team endured the Nightmare, a two-mile passageway that’s only passable during high tide. Crew Three had to pull their canoes through several miles of mud in order to get out of this stretch and proceed with their route. Crew Two endured 40-50 miles of sawgrass. The overgrown grass is impassable without manually creating a path. They created miles of passageway in order to get back out onto the open seas.

Payton Meeks, junior business administration, communication and Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry major, was a member of Crew Two.

“The hardest part of the course was being physically tired and exhausted. Everyday we had to wake up early in the morning and paddle all day and then wake up the next day and do it again. You did it, though, because your crew really depends on you,” said Meeks.  

Crew One had close encounters with alligators and had to paddle through storms and creeks. Large waves and volatile seas put them off course several times, but they battled the elements and finally made it back to base camp on day 13.

All three crews made it through their journey safely. However, the trip does not just involve team dynamics and group skill building. Every Pryor fellow has important personal experiences, as well. By conquering personal challenges, participants discover their true abilities and talents and how they can be utilized in a team situation.

“Every situation has something to appreciate, whether it be large or small. There were some days I didn’t feel like there was anything good that could come out of that day, and then we would do appreciations at dinner with the crew, and I would be reminded immediately that there is always something to be appreciative of in the day. It was absolutely amazing learning that lesson,” Meeks said.

Working towards a common goal with a large group of peers is not always an easy feat, but one of Outward Bound’s core philosophies is that tremendous growth as an individual is actually accomplished through a strong sense of team effort. Many of the Pryor fellows found that the challenges they endured could not have been done alone.

“The most challenging aspect of the trip was definitely getting 12 people in a team on the same schedule and ready to move and execute the day. Without the team, though, we would not have been able to maintain a good morale when conditions were tough or when we were faced with an obstacle we could not figure out ourselves,” said Nick Gavin, junior accounting and economics major.

Talk to many Pryor fellows on campus and they will attest to how much they learned from the Outward Bound trip.

“You eat, sleep, row, laugh and sometimes cry with these people and you share a once in a lifetime experience that only the people in your boat get to experience with you, which is a pretty neat thing,” said Gavin.

Photo courtesy of McKenzie Gross. 

Hilltop Monitor: Why did you go on Outward Bound?
Sara Bailey: I’ve worked at Jewell for 10 years. It was the right timing, a good opportunity to get to know students better and since part of my title is “Leadership Development,” going on Outward Bound to experience it and find out what [Pryor students] go through was helpful.

HM: How exactly does Outward Bound grow a person’s leadership skills?
SB: It’s interesting because you actually learn a lot more about co-leading than you do on leading. You learn and grow as an individual leader but there’s also the opportunity to learn how to lead with your peers. So throughout the course of the time, we would have people who navigated and then we had different people who filled different roles. Like, we had someone called “The Voice on the Water,” which was the person who kept everyone together and made sure we had enough water. Everyone had to find different roles and then within those roles, had to take on leadership.

HM: What was the hardest part of the trip for you?
SB: I did a lot of camping when I was growing up and I’ve been on a lot of mission trips, so the physical dynamics weren’t too much of a stretch for me. So I think one of the most challenging things for me was the fact that I was kind of in limbo. I wasn’t an Outward Bound instructor and I wasn’t full-on part of the team, so my role a lot of the time, like during our final where our guides don’t tell us where we’re supposed to be going, was to basically be quiet. So even if I knew we were going off-course, I couldn’t say anything. I was in that limbo-land where I’m supposed to be doing what the instructors are doing and at the same time, part of the team, but not to the point of adding to it. One of the biggest challenges was turning off leading in some situations so that it wasn’t just me leading the group but it was them co-leading each other. I was choosing to step back and not lead so that the students could get the full experience. Also, I had tons of bug bites.

HM: Did you feel like you could really be a part of your crew even though you were an authority figure to most of them?
SB: That was one of those things that was kind of neat because everybody knew of my role at Jewell so there were moments when they suddenly remembered, “Oh, there’s an administrator here!” but at the same time it was also like, we’re literally all in this boat together. So now I see everybody that was in my crew (shout out to Stealth Toast) around campus and it’s like, “Hey! How ya doing?” You really do get to know everyone when you’re like, this is the trenches and this is outside of my
comfort zone.

HM: How do you think you experienced the trip differently from the college students?
SB: I think some of it comes from just having more life experience because of the years of practicing leading. Coming in with the leadership experience I have gotten from my roles at Jewell and then finding myself turning off my leadership [during the trip], I did a lot of reflecting on how much I had grown in my time working at Jewell. The lessons [the Pryor students] were learning made me remember the times when I learned those lessons myself. Watching them learn these lessons for the first time was a good reminder for me to take back home.

HM: By the end of the trip, were you sad to leave or were you ready to go home?
SB: All of the above. I was ready to have a good shower and to not be bitten by bugs as much, so for the general comforts, yes, I was ready to come back. I wasn’t ready to come back to “life” and the tech dynamics. I really enjoyed that dynamic of just being away and being present as opposed to constantly being distracted by our phones. I wasn’t ready to be back in the swing of things because I wanted to process the trip more [as the Panhellenic advisor, Bailey had the stress of recruitment to come back to right after the OB trip].

HM: What lessons did you get from this experience?
SB: There are three main things I keep coming back to. First, when we went through the mangrove tunnels where you’re literally weaving in and out of roots and branches, I was in the front and so I would usually be the first one to encounter each tree. I did not realize it at the time but the girls told me later that I laughed every single time we went under a tree. Some of them were stressed beyond all get out but I was just laughing. I realized that joy is just so much more energizing than frustration. I have been resonating on that. Another lesson came from Whitewater Bay and it was a really windy day. Everyone wanted to take a break but because it was so windy, the waves would just kind of pound you into the mangrove trees so there wasn’t really a safe place to take a break. It’s one of those things where you just keep paddling and that’s your option. So I pondered that one a lot, too. What are the areas in my life where I need to push past that comfort zone? Am I pushing myself enough? What goals do I need to make and not let myself quit? I also learned the value of being seen and being yourself. That was one of the things that was really neat and profound for me on the trip. Just being a part of this team where, even when I am laughing in a tunnel, you have that freedom to just fully be yourself and then to have people see that and recognize that as a benefit to the group.

HM: If you were giving advice to people considering going on Outward Bound, what would you say to them?
SB: It’s an opportunity to learn about yourself in a way that really is unique and different. To completely let go of our tech-based world, it required face-to-face communication. You learn your breaking point and how to get past them. You’ll be uncomfortable and learn how to kind of live in uncomfortable situations which is also a good life lesson to have under your belt. Definitely, if you have the opportunity to go, go. Everyone comes back having learned different life lessons but it’s a good investment in learning who you are. Having talked to some of the other staff members who have gone, one of them said to me, “It was life-changing,” and, in hindsight, I can see what he means now. You’re different because of it. Big or small differences, you come back different because of the experience.