McCall Trip

The McCall trip was very fun and very appreciative, thank you Chris and other leaders who helped put this together.  I thought it was good weekend for everyone to get away from school and relax, have fun, and spend time with one another.  My favorite part of the trip was the snowball fights.  I also loved looking beautiful while ice skating with Hunter, I am confident to say that we are professionals now.  I was looking forward to the hot springs but I understand why we didn't go, it was no ones fault.  The cabin was way nicer than I expected.  I also enjoyed cooking in groups for everyone because I don't really cook, so it was a fun experience.  Thanks again for the great trip!

McCall Retreat

First of all, big thank-you to Chris and the other leaders who helped make this trip possible! I enjoyed the beautiful view by the lakeside cabin as well our midnight snowball fights and campfires, catchphrase, ice skating and being able hang out with EVERYONE in the Lifetime Rec Community! I loved getting to know everyone a little better, but I was also dissapointed that the overall expectations were not met.  I understand that we could not make it to the hot springs due to weather conditions, which is fine. But rather than finding something else to do like going back to the cabin, changing into warmer clothes, and then heading into McCall and exploring around or going for a hike, we ended up playing brain games. I know that they were meant as a team building effort but everyone wanted to be outside and was not enjoying them. And I think that the number one thing that surprised me most (maybe because I wasn't able to make the Thursday night meeting), were the sessions. I felt like I was in school again, and I started to think that it might have been better for me to stay at the dorms and work on homework and studying for tests, where I could actually get credit. I truly do appreciate the effort that was put into this trip, and I have no idea how hard it is or time consuming to put together these events, but as I have read in other posts and agree, we already know about diversity and not being judgmental of one another; and I also think that we could have better utilized the time of being in McCall and doing things that we could not do in Boise. I cannot say that I truly learned anything besides learning more about my friends in the LRC. I hope that this post is not taken as me saying that "we have terrible leaders" because I think that you guys are awesome and I appreciate the time and effort that you put into this group! Rather, I hope that this will just be used as some useful feedback to better our trips and activities.

Thank-you again for the fun trip!
~Joanna

McCall Trip

Overall the McCall trip wasn’t what I had expected. We stayed inside the entire time we were there, which is not what we were told we would be doing; we were told that we would be doing most of the activities outside. McCall is a great outside/nature oriented town. Sadly I had more fun the first time I was up there at the start of the school year. I know that the snow may have thrown us a curve ball and not allowing us to go to the hot springs but there still was another hot springs we could have gone to. The majority of the group was really looking forward to a hot springs, especially with the snow. I cannot say that the activities were bad that we did because they did get the whole floor to interact and learn more about each other since we do have our little cliques. I did enjoy the get away from school which helped relieve a lot of school related stress. In the end we did get a relaxing get away but, it fell short of the expectations for what we were told. 

McCall Trip

The McCall trip was fun and I enjoyed a weekend away from school. Thank you Chris and the Outdoor Program for all your help.

We've only just begun......

Folks at home, folks at home. What can I say about the McCall trip? I think you mean what CAN'T I say about the McCall trip. I guess I could go on to describe the awesome snowball fights we had, the late night bonfires, glorious foozeball matches, Blades of Glory status iceskating, and relaxation time, but that would be too redundant amongst my fellow LRLLC members. Instead, I would like to present a brief haiku written by no other than the great Charles de Lint on the same day we left the McCall Cabin.

Snow falls thick and hard:

instant winter arrives; good

and bad, all covered

Don't tell me I am the only one refreshed after that haiku. Thanks Charles for the lovely words of mother nature, and thank you LRLLC for showing me a wonderful time this weekend.

Oh, and I mustn't forget.....we've only just beguuunnnnnn!

-Hunter Votolato

McCall Trip

I enjoyed our trip to McCall. The week before I had been extremely stressed and overloaded with homework. I found myself spending late afternoons and nights in the library almost every day. I had a lot of fun ice skating and hanging out around the cabin. So it was very beneficial to me to be able to relax and not think about school. However, despite all the fun and relaxing moments, I thoroughly despised the "sessions." I found it a complete waste of time to talk about something I was taught in 8th grade. I've been going to lectures about diversity and equality all my life and I'm seriously getting sick of them. It's like teaching a fish to swim. My parents raised me to ignore the boundaries of race, religion, and whatever else other people believe sets us apart. I truly do not see the difference between me, a Caucasian, and a black kid. Therefore I find it a complete illogical waste of time to be filling Lifetime Rec's programs with these speeches, lectures and, sessions. We've been on the earth long enough to comprehend the lessons you're trying to teach us, the first time you teach them. I joined this program because a friend who participated in it last year brought up a lot of hype and strong feelings about it. She told me, "this is something you will definitely enjoy." After camping with her for years and mountain biking across southern Utah, I knew she was pointing me in a direction I would enjoy. As we close in on the end of the semester, I will be going home to my family for Christmas. When they ask me around the dinner table, "so what type of things did you RECREATION dorm group do?" All I can really tell them about is inner tube water polo, mountain biking, and our trip to McCall. I enjoyed the trip, because of the fun we made for ourselves, not because of the program designed for us. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, just stating my opinion. I appreciate the time and effort put into the trip by the staff.

McCall Trip

When I saw on our amazing list of things we would be doing this semester I was stoked. However, we haven't done half of those things, and we are almost done with the entire semester. I was really looking forward to McCall because I have heard of how gorgeous it is. And it was, and this entire weekend I felt trapped inside of a cabin listening to talks all day. I don't think I was the only one who felt this was, I think I can speak for a lot of us when I say we were disappointed by the outcomes of the trip. Every one of us applied to this rec because we like recreation of some sort and we were trapped inside. Everything we did in McCall we could do right here in Boise. I think that the team exercises were irritating because we all know each other pretty well. I was so annoyed that steam was coming out of my ears (ask Kelsey). Several times I voiced going outside and building a snowman or going on a adventure, but it quickly came to my attention that we would be building towers with spaghetti and marshmallows instead. The talks I have heard all before, in all my years of public school as have probably most of us. I don't need more stats about how being a woman is difficult. Being trapped inside when our favorite thing in the world is outside- gorgeous as can be- made me so infuriated. I had fun when I was not participating on standing on a sheet of cloth attempting to flip it to the other side. The snowball fight was my favorite part of the entire trip, as well as standing on my porch over looking the lake looking at the beauty that we did not get to enjoy to the fullest. It was a good get away, but I am praying that next semester will be 20X better. I'm not trying to attack anyone in any way, I am just being honest as it is good feedback.

McCall Trip

       I really this enjoyed this trip. I enjoyed it because of how our community connected by having snowball fights and just hanging out with each other. Even though I enjoyed this trip, it was still a disappointment. This fact can be proven by defining Recreational activity. This is the refreshment of one's mind or body after work through activity that amuses or stimulates play. We did not do this as often as we should. Out of the 2 nights we were there we only did one recreational activity and three sessions about equality or diversity. Last time I checked, this was Lifetime RECREATION, not a separate university foundations class. We go over ethics in this class and it's not one of my favorites. To learn that we do the same thing in this class pisses me off, due to the fact I've spent 18 years of my life listening to this over and over. I thought signed up for an active recreational class. With that said, I expected that we were going to go hiking out in "nature" and be outdoors. Sure ice-skating was fun, but it clearly wasn't enough. The least they can do is for the amount of sessions we have, is the amount of recreational activities we have. Our ratio was 3 sessions for every ONE organized recreational activity. I was not to thrilled about that. Next time we go on a trip, I will expect less sessions and more recreational activities.

Reflection on McCall

This weekend in McCall was one of the best weekends I've experienced here at school. But definitely not for the reasons that it should have been. I really enjoyed getting to spend time and talk to some of the people who don't hang around the dorms. I felt like for the first time we were really a living learning community. Everybody just talked to everybody. There were no groups, no cliques, nothing like that. I enjoyed getting to have snowball fights with everyone.
However, when I left for the trip I was anticipating a weekend of hiking, going to the hot springs, cosmic ice skating, visiting the town of McCall, and other ways of utilizing the fact we were in McCall. Other than the snowball fights, we failed to utilize the fact that we were in McCall. We didn't go to the hot springs (no one's fault), didn't get to go cosmic ice skating, and didn't get to explore the town. I feel like everything we did could very easily have been done here in Boise.
I struggled with the team building exercises for a few reasons. I was disappointed in the fact that we didn't get to go the hot springs. Coming back after missing out on the hot springs and doing team building games was not fun. Second, I feel that as a group we have advanced past the typical team building exercises that everyone does at orientation. We have already been living together for 2.5 months. Doing basic teamwork exercises are boring when we already know so much about each other. And for my last reason. The outdoors were a huge part of my life when I was growing up. Riding motorcycles, shooting guns, hiking on trails and blazing our own trails, tracking (but not killing) wildlife, exploring mountain ranges, and mapping areas of wilderness were on my basic weekend to-do list. For me to be in such a beautiful place, with extraordinary weather, cooped up building towers with spaghetti and marshmallows tore apart my insides. I wanted to hike every trail, visit every lake, climb up to every viewpoint that McCall has to offer. And we just didn't do any of that. My mind was always wandering to the outdoors, and I found myself staring outside because I really wanted to be out there.
As far as what I learned, I wish I could report back more. I didn't learn much at all. I went to a public elementary school, public middle school, public junior high, and public high school. I have heard all the speeches about racism, sexism, equality, LGBT rights, and equality of religion. Every single year from 6th grade to 12th we were forced to read a book about racism. I understand the want to educate us about equality.We have already been educated. We get it.
When I applied for the LRLLC, I was anticipating going hiking, biking, rafting,  rock climbing, wake boarding, water skiing, snowshoeing, and snow skiing nearly every weekend. I had prepared myself for every single weekend to be packed full of recreational activities. I am starting to find out that the emphasis of this program is not on the recreation part; recreation seems to be one of the last things on the priority list. I look back at the packet that was given to us at the beginning of the year, and a great deal of activities in the packet just didn't happen.
This wasn't written to offend anyone. But the topics here are kind of sensitive, and hard to bring up gently. I feel like these were some point that needed to be addressed sooner or later.

McCall Camping Trip

I had a blast at McCall this past weekend.  I had never been in a snowball fight, nor have I ever been ice skating in my entire life.  It was full of new and exciting adventures!  However, I did not enjoy the fact that we were unable to go to the hot springs, nor were we able to do the cosmic ice skating.  In addition, I did not see how the sessions we participated in tied into lifetime rec.  I realize that they teach us important life lessons, but why for this class?  It seems like the past few activities we have planned have all fallen through as well.  I had tons of fun over the weekend, but I feel like if it were more organized it could have been even better.

McCall Reflection

The McCall Trip was a blast. It was really awesome to get away from school and forget about the stresses of homework and tests. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we all had a good time and would do it again in a heartbeat; however, we would've liked more of a recreational approach to the weekend. Being in McCall and having such a beautiful view was a tease when we had to sit inside and talk about depressing subjects that we have all heard countless times. I think its important to teach us these topics but it could've been done at school instead of a weekend retreat. I think everyone agrees that we should've done more activities outdoors such as hiking or activities in the snow. I would like to thank Chris, Stormi, and the outdoor program for everything they did this weekend. I cant wait to see whats to come for next semester.

McCall Reflection

I thought this weekend was a really great experience. I grew closer to people that I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to do so yet. It was nice to be in one place with nothing to do but interact with each other. My favorite part of the weekend would have to be the ice skating. We all bonded over learning together. I felt like we really acted like a family during this trip. I wish we could have done more outdoor activities but things happen. It was just a difficult place to concentrate on academic type exercises because we were all yearning to be outside. I hope we get the opportunity to do this again. I honestly believe we grew closer as a unit and learned a lot about each other inadvertently. All in all it was a success in my eyes.

McCall Reflection

Personally, I had a great time on our trip to McCall. It was fun for all of us to get a chance to hangout in a setting that wasn't at school or laying around in headquarters. I think we got to know each other a little better and experience our friendships in a new light, which was great.
However, I think we all had high expectations for this trip that weren't necessarily met. Imagining a trip to McCall made me think that we would be out in the mountains sledding or hiking, hot springs, and maybe even having some sort of snow fort building competition. And whether it was due to the itinerary or the weather, I felt that we were inside a lot more than we should have been this weekend. I think that most of us can agree that we would have liked to do a bit more outdoor recreational activities than we did. Due to the fact that we expected to be outside enjoying the incredible atmosphere of McCall, I don't think our sessions were as effective as they could have been. I think all of the sessions were very well planned out and had a great connection tied to them, however, I don't think that the setting was appropriate to get the right reaction out of us. Perhaps those sessions would have been more in depth if we had done them on campus for class, rather than in front of a window that looked out on a beautiful lake.
Despite the amount of time spent inside, I really do believe that we all had a great time this weekend. I know I did. Thank you to Stormi and Chris for planning this trip and taking us there.

McCall Reflection

Looking back on our weekend in McCall, I really enjoyed all the time we had to spend with each other. Although we didn't do as many recreational activities that we planned I feel like we bonded as a LLC nonetheless. Now I know that diversity and discrimination are important topic to learn and to understand, but those topics could have been brought up during our class time to open up more time to activities. I really enjoyed the snowball fight, and ice skating. Thank you Chris for planning this trip and making it one of the best weekends in this semester for me thus far.  

McCall Trip

          First off, I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who gave up their time to help organize and who also accompanied us on this trip. I am so thankful for the hard work you put in so that we can do great things like this. I feel so lucky to be a part of LRC and to have privileges like this. There were a few thing that I noticed that we as students really need to improve on. I felt like the level of focus, listening, and follow directions when we were asked to, should have been a lot higher and this goes for more than just this weekend. We are in college and we should know better. At the end of the day this is a privilege and we need to act like we deserve it.
          I did enjoy most of the activities even though I wish we could have done those in class so we could utilized out time in McCall doing more outdoor things. I liked the teamwork type  games, those were fun, and I feel like it helped bring us closer. I can see how those games fit with the purpose of our trip. The diversity activities were great, but in a different setting. To be honest I don't know why we did those activities or how they relate to LRC and no one explained it to me. We as students signed up for this living learning community under the impressin that we would be spending our time together doing sports and outdoor activities. I personally spent a lot of time looking into LRC to make sure it was something I wanted to do. If there is to be a few hours set aside for diversity activities I think it should be justified.
          like I said before, big big thanks to everyone who helped out. I really do appreciate the work you do. At the end of the day, I had an absolutely great time! I got to spend the weekend in a cabin full of my favorite people in an absolutely beautiful place and I loved it!      

McCall Trip - Fully Exposed (Joanna's title idea)

I was very excited to hear we were taking a weekend vacation as a community to McCall, a beautiful destination in Idaho. On the schedule was hot springs, ice skating, and I heard "bring hiking shoes". This got me excited and thinking that this is one of those weekends where you are constantly busy with fun activities that make you view others in a way you have not before. Adventure and adrenaline is what was on my mind. Getting my homework done by cramming the days before was unfortunately not what I had to do. The only "recreational" activity we did was ice skating, which I loved - don't get me wrong - but technically that was still indoors. The only time we got to enjoy Stormi's nature was during our free time having snowball fights. The most fun we had was when all the adults were in bed and we just stayed up playing catch phrase and having a campfire, just the things you do when you think of camping. I would have liked to gone on a hike, even a hike downtown, or a hike four miles to the hot springs. I think activities should have been planned out better. If we had decided to go to cosmic skating, the rink would have been closed and we wouldn't have even been able to do that one thing we did. Communication is key. Now to the team building activities and sessions…I appreciate the time and effort all of the group leaders put in, especially Chris, but I felt like the stuff we talked about has been covered during every camp and every class we took in high school. None of us are out to get the minorities, and it is obvious we have all taken each other in with open arms with friendships. I felt like I was in a dream back in middle school orientation during our spaghetti and marshmallow activity. Although it incorporates group work, it just felt childish. We could have been doing ropes courses and things IN THE OUTDOORS like we had in mind, but the learning sessions took up so much time. I hope we are able to go back, and make an even more memorable experience in the Spring. Overall, anytime away from the stress of the school week is a relief, so I am thankful for that. Thank you to all who helped in the program, especially Chris and the OP. I hope this honest evaluation can be something to build upon for future endeavors.

Love,
Mark

McCall Trip

       McCall was the perfect get away for our group to unwind and get to know on another better. Even though we have been living together for almost three months, we all have different schedules and it can be hard to take time to hang out with everyone. McCall allowed us to spend a whole weekend together learning more about one another and becoming more of family. What I thought really brought us together was the outdoor activities and free time. When we had time to play the games we wanted to play, such like spoons, snowball fights, walking around, and sitting around the fire. we all got to unwind and truly appreciate our surroundings and the people around us. Even the cooking incorporated team building--communicating, team work, and the reward of a satisfying meal.
      The discussion sessions we had gave us the opportunity to talk on a deeper more personal level. I learned more about my peers as well as facts about their background. The team bonding however I did not find as beneficial. I would of personally rather our group do team bonding outside, since our time was short in McCall. The weekend overall was an experience I will never forget. Nt only did I gain stronger relationships with the community, but i go to learn more about myself.

McCall Trip

I believe there are many things to be said about the McCall trip. First off, I'd like to thank Chris and everyone who organized the trip for doing so, as well as dealing with such a rowdy bunch. Anyway, what I took away from this trip wasn't what I had hoped for. Going into it, I thought there was going to be a lot more recreational activities and exploring the outdoors. We were told to pack warm clothes, and I felt like I overpacked because we ended up not being outside at all. I get that the hot springs thing was no ones fault, but there was still more outdoor activities we could have done. It seemed like everything we did, could have been done here at Boise State. We didn't take advantage of the fact that we were out of town and up in the beautiful mountains. It's just that we are the Lifetime Recreations LLC, and I don't see how oppression, and diversity fit into that. It isn't that I don't respect or appreciate either of those things, but I am just confused as to how they fit into recreation. I do believe however that some people popped out of their shells a bit, and a few of us grew closer. I know I can say I had some good conversations with people I don't usually converse with and it was great. I'm really glad we all got to get away and enjoy such a magnificent spot together, I just wish it was spent doing other activities.