Rayan Dadiburjor the XYZ President-Elect writes in about the recent XYZ Leadership Camp.
Rayan writes…
We arrived at Karjat’s Rivergate Resort with our bags packed for an overnight trip but went back with memories that will last us a lifetime.
This was my second XYZ Leadership Camp but I came with no expectation or prospect of what we might learn as the first camp taught me that Hoshaang uncle and his team never fail to surprise us with all the activities that were meticulously planned. As the bus pulled into Camp, we were all really taken aback by the beauty of the area and the amazing AC tents that we stayed in.
The XYZ Leadership Camp is only for the Presidents, President Elects (next year’s presidents) and President Nominees (they will be presidents two years later). Some volunteers are also a part of the camp and this year, the XI (Xerxes’ Invincibles, ie. Ex-XYZs and youth between 15 to 25 years) also participated.
The competitions of the camp kicked off with the ice breaker games which we played between the 4 teams: Presidents, President elects, President nominees and the XI. We played 10 different 1 minute games which brought us all together.
These were followed by activities that the office bearers were asked to prepare from home.
The elects exhibited tees that they had designed for their groups. The presidents gave us a gist of the monthly fundays they had conducted through the year. The nominees showed us innovative ways they would conduct a funday activity with their group in the coming month. Some of the tasks were so innovative that we had to play them at camp itself. My favourite one was Hushrav’s crown word search… Well who would not enjoy solving a puzzle on someone else’s head?
The camp moved on to the lawn where we played games designed by Delnaz aunty and Zyros uncle. Stamping and calling out numbers, using non verbal communication to bring blind folded people into an area and a different take on stone, paper, scissors. They were team building and task oriented games. Though the intent was to help us become better leaders we had loads of fun in the bargain. Even the rain showers decided to cool the event…
We then took to 2 hrs of adventure activities. While Farshid and Danesh sped to the kayaking area Aryan, Bezaan and me jumped into the pool. Hufriya and Bhuvana were however stuck to the adventure zone doing the zip line and the commando course.
After all this one would think we would sleep instantly however this was when Hoshaang uncle split us up and gave us a new task to perform at 11pm. While brainstorming, all barriers were broken and we chatted and bonded almost through the night
The next day was short but productive as we were given a task of creating a joint event between pre assigned groups. This brought each of us out of our comfort zone and allowed us to relate to the mammoth task that lay ahead of us of planning events and leading our team. The XYZ XI also outlined a major social service event planned for January 2019.
So all in all it was a wonderful experience with great organisers, good food, new friends, fun filled activities and most importantly bringing out the leader in me. So i feel that Leaders are definitely made, they are not born.
Rayaan Dadiburjor
XYZ President Elect,
Cyrus’ Superstars
