Wellington

Hey so I forgot to tell you the other night we had a mustache party. It was exciting we went out to a bar some of the guys and some of the girls and we were wearing our stashes... Deborah's speech she tried to tie in quantum theory and explain that what ever you wanted to do all you had to do was choose it. Not think it choose it. I followed her to a point. Definitely believe you need to believe you can do something before you try, because if not... mom... you will not be able to do it(turning on a computer) :) We had lunch at a place called Mac's Brewery I left hungry, but with good food. We watched some young kids jump into the water from the docks, doing flips and such. We explored the Te Papa museum, which if you are ever in Wellington you need to visit because this was an amazing museum. There was a colossal squid, explained the treaty of Waitangi, taught me a lot about Mauri culture, there was a jade (or green stone) exhibit and how humans have had an effect on New Zealand. The museum had all these cool interactive bits that you could play with to find out more about an exhibit. After the museum we were left to our own devices. I went with Tylor to a indoor bouldering location in a warehouse by the water. Not so good at that, but enjoyed the challenge and learned a couple of new moves too. Once we came back we met up with some of the others snagged a pizza and Tylor, Kevin, Chris and I went looking for Kate, Alex, and Paul. We didn't find them, but we had a great walk around the water and stopped for ice cream. some of the guys put on a movie around the time we got back so I watched that. It was called Once Warriors, this was a really intense movie. Really well done, but the message was strong. Couldn't go to sleep until I processed a little of it.

Our final last day we had a lot of lectures. First one was with Stephen Neal and he had us reflect on lessons learned through this trip. Some listed were diversity--negative attitudes are frustrating but help push you. Fundamental attribution error--blame people b/c of personality traits. Leadership is dynamic and a good leader lets others lead. Self awareness is key as well as leadership is risky and the great thing about failure is you can always learn from it. We were also given time to reflect on our own individual leadership style and discuss our vision. We then got Chris's (our leader) words of wisdom about how to apply all of this to a job. He gave some helpful advice during interviews and how to present yourself. He also opened the floor to others who shared their stories of success or failure. Gavin (the other leader) then stepped up to give his words of wisdom. He listed how to be a good leader: 1. leadership by appointment (when you have to be) 2. Leadership by relationship (when you work together) 3. People will follow because they enjoy your track record (or success) 4. Raise them up (because you can help them achieve more.) The whole floor was then open for the group members. We had a hot seat and at the beginning of the trip we picked a name out of a hat and now at the end we are to present to the group good things they have done as a leader maybe how they have grown or how effective of a leader are they, you could also include some constructive criticism. Dana had me and I had Kate. I thought this went well and was happy with my feedback. We had a spectacular dinner, that took forever all together. Some of the boys ended up dressing up... one like a cowboys, one w/ bling, another decked out in NZ all black paraphernalia, and the other had a sweet looking straw hat, oh they all had new mustaches on too... It was a fun night. We ended up in a karaoke bar, everyone was there. Everyone was either singing or dancing. It was a good way to end, everyone together having a sweet as time.

Alright today is sad its cold outside and I go one last time with some of the guys: Kevin, Alex, Tylor, Chris, and Paul to get muffins. We hung out near a skate park and eventually it turned into us hanging upside down from the railings, like monkeys. Eventually it had to come to an end though and the people heading back home had to leave. This really felt like a great trip lots of connections and great friends made. Those of us that ended up staying: Alex, Steve, Kevin, Andrew, Kate, Michelle, Carli and I fit four people each in a two person room that night. Some of us got lunch on the docks and went back to the museum and later met up and all of us, except Kate went on a kayaking trip to the point and back. We all had dinner together and watched a movie (Saving Sarah Marshall) before we got some needed sleep.

Austra-Learn trip ended