Our very first workshop of Transition Year was called Eagle's Flight. We were told this workshop was aimed at improving our planning skills, help us think more logically and use our time and resources as best we can. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I first heard this. I thought maybe a speaker would come in and simply explain these concepts to us and we could listen and take notes. I certainly did not expect it to be a type of board game that we would play in groups! I entered the Halla Nua on Thursday afternoon full of anticipation. Sinead was the ‘photographer’ so she took a few group photos of us before we commenced the workshop. Next we were assigned to specific groups, each group a different colour. I was with Anabel, Conor, Oliver, Sinead and Jude in the ‘Orange’ group! First we were explained the rules and aims of the game, which was called “The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine”. Then we had fifteen minutes to organise and plan how we were going to play the game with the resources we were given. Immediately my group got organised and we each took on a role in the group. The objective of this game was to get to the gold mine and stay there for as many days as possible. Each day you spend in the gold mine, your team earns $2500. My team decided we would take the longer, yet easier route to the gold mine, which in the long run was the right decision. We also stayed an extra day at the base to gain extra information. This may make little sense to you but I’m explaining as well as I can and hopefully you understand most of the game! Waiting an extra day for the information was really worth it, the information helped us an incredible amount! The game lasted 20 days (each day being 2 minutes), so you had to complete the journey to and from the gold mine within that time. We did lose a day waiting for the information but we gained a lot more knowledge and this enabled us to make educated decisions throughout the game. With a lot of decision making and planning, negotiating and collaborating with other teams we eventually returned ‘home’ and collected $17500, which meant we came second in the class! I feel my team worked very well together, everyone contributed to the team and we listened to each other as well as helped each other. When each team had finished the game we discussed as a class the tactics that could be used to win the game and the meaning of the workshop. The speaker asked us a number of questions that really made us think hard about our actions and decisions. The one thing my team agrees we could have done differently is that we should of stayed an extra two days, as opposed to one day, at the base to receive all the information available to us. This information would have greatly helped us throughout the game. Also I think we could have collaborated more with the other teams.
We learned some valuable information at this workshop such as: what elements are part of a great plan, how important collaboration is with other people, having a specific goal helps you achieve what you would like to, communicating and presenting your ideas with others clearly and most importantly the benefits of planning! In conclusion I greatly enjoyed myself at the Eagle's Flight workshop. It was a fun experience working together with my teammates! It helped me understand how decisions affect everything you do, and how difficult it is to decide between options sometimes. I will now fully appreciate the effort and planning that goes into events and everyday school life as I fully understand how stressful planning, organising and decision making is, especially within a time limit! I would recommend this workshop to next year’s Transition Year students as I feel it is enjoyable and teaches you useful skills.
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