On Sunday we kick off the first week of Minnesota Business Camp. Watching and waiting for the students to arrive was not only exciting, it was kind of nerve-racking not knowing what to expect from the students. Yet, when the students arrived at 11:30 a.m. the excitement and nervousness was in the air. You can tell that they were scared since this was their first time leaving home or just being on a campus-like setting. Knowing the students were coming into a new place with no idea what is going to happen, it makes me really proud of the CEOs and Dorm Monitors showing leadership while welcoming all the students with a smile.
After the students check in and meet their roommates, we all went to a very nice lunch where some of the students said goodbye to their parents after eating at the Gravey Center. Those who parents’ stayed with their children listened to the inspirational Daniel Shannon. Daniel gave a speech on how to be a visionary and how to achieve your goals, but to never ever forget their vision. After his amazing speech, the parents were told to give their final goodbyes to their children and head out.
Today was such a hectic day for us at Minnesota Business Camp. With the entire day filled with exciting activities planned for the students, they got to know each other and warm up to the idea that they are a company and also a team. Today they learned that with team work all things are possible to achieve. We started out the day with the Corporate Olympics. The students had to use team work to get out of sticky situations; they learned how important communication is to achieve a certain goal. An example was the knot game, which was something that took self-empowerment and the ability to work with others. Student held hands and twisted their bodies in order to get out of the knot. They later found a solid solution by talking and carefully communicating with each other to break free.
After the exciting and crazy games, the students all rushed into the hall where they met Kamal Mohamed. He is a young man who was able to use what others called a ‘failure’ and turned it into a mass success. His dedication, along with his friends, made Kamal take back what others called a big failure. Kamal taught us that failure is not an option; that we can all rise above failure, it doesn’t define us. It’s something that can drive you to work harder and be better so next time you’re not only prepared, you’re ready to succeed.
