Picnic-ING

PICNIC-ING

Today we decided to do our second activity, picnic-ING.  After brainstorming at our first meeting, we came to this conclusion that picnic-ING was creative and unique.  Also, we decided that picnic-ING was a great way to get to know the rest of the group in a less formal meeting that we did not have to talk about other ideas or the project itself.  We determined that his activity would bring us closer together to each other and I believe we achieved that through picnic-ING.

It was a cool September day, which made it perfect for a picnic.  We decided to go get all of our snacks and meet at our regular time and place, at 3:30 P.M. outside of the Carrier Library.  I showed up with a big box of goldfish, Lauren brought the main course in Buffalo Wild Wings; Katelyn brought some cookies and tortilla chips, Courtney added on to the collection of goldfish with her own bag, and Matt topped it off with some chips and sandwiches that he had just picked up from Dukes.  We decided that the quad may be a little packed on such a great day like today so we decided to get some shade and sit right outside of the Hillcrest House where a large oak tree provided that perfect shade that we were seeking. 

We started off the meeting relatively quiet because we were all getting our afternoon snack in, but then started to communicate.  We quickly got on the subject of studying abroad.  We learned that Courtney and Lauren wanted to study abroad in Australia.  I gave them some advice because my older brother had just gotten back from a semester studying at the University of Queensland in Australia.  I stated that I was interested in doing the College of Business program in Antwerp, Belgium.  We also learned that Matt and Katelyn were still deciding whether they wanted to study abroad, they said that maybe just a trip to another country would be enough for them.  

Dog Walk-ING

Today, September 21st the A-Team decided it was time to do our first activity, dog walk-ING. One may ask just exactly how we came up with this slightly unique idea, well it was the result of thinking "outside the box and inside the quad" during our business meeting. After suggesting many unoriginal ideas we brainstormed activities we could do on the quad, finally resulting in our idea to go dog walk-ING. We all determined that this activity would be a great bonding experience for the simple reason that we had no idea exactly how to navigate the task, but we knew together we would find a way. 

Waking up to such a beautiful day and having free time due to class cancellation we decided dog walk-ING would be the perfect task to check off the list. We all gathered in Carrier Library to determine how to accomplish our activity. Courtney and Katelynn being from Pennsylvania, Matt being from New York, Lauren being from North Carolina, and Bryan being a town in Virginia relatively far from JMU we knew it would be impossible for us to use our own dogs, so we decided to think of people we knew on campus who owned dogs that we could borrow. After coming up empty handed on dog owners we decided to venture to the quad and to be bold and ask to borrow the dog of the next dog walker we saw. Although we felt extremely creepy for basically staring at every person to walk through the quad, after about ten minutes we finally came across a man walking his adorable dog Vader. 

Bryan volunteered to be the first person to approach the man so that we did not overwhelm him with a group of five freshmen running at him to ask to borrow his dog. The man kindly said it would be not a problem and even volunteered to take the pictures! While we were walking and playing with Vader, the 1 year old rescued St. Bernard mix, the group learned that each of the members had dogs back at home and playing with Vader immediately brought their dogs to mind. Bryan even stated that he, "can't wait to see his dogs when he gets home." Overall, through this activity we learned a lot about each other. Bryan is very outgoing and has no problem talking to any passerby, Courtney and Katelynn loved letting loose and playing like little kids with Vader, Lauren has so many dogs at home that she's run out of space and has to keep one at a friends, and Matt has much more of an interest walking his dog rather than playing with him. All in all we are extremely happy we participated in this activity because we were all able to have some fun, all with the help of our new friend Vader. 

Business Meet-ING

This meeting was very successful for many reasons. First, we made our Code of Conduct which was easy because we all agreed on everything. We decided that everyone should be pulling their own weight, and if someone doesn't do that, the group will talk to them in a non confrontational way. Also, we discussed basic expectations like showing up to every meeting, on time, and being helpful and attentive. Reasons for not attending the meeting include academic conflicts or religious reasons, but the person must notify the group before the meeting. Lastly, we agreed to make decision by consensus, so that everyone in the group is satisfied with each decision. 

Next we created our calendar, which proved to be a bit more difficult. All of our schedules are the complete opposites, with each of us having classes at different times and on the opposite sides of campus. After much discussing, we decided to have meetings every Monday at 3:30 in Carrier library (which is perfect because there's Starbucks). It's not the most convenient time for everyone, but it's the best we could do for now. The meeting day might have to change though because Katelynn is trying out for club softball soon, and doesn't know when her practices will be, if she makes the team. We also decided that we should all do some preliminary research for our speech and bring in a few sources or ideas to the next meeting. 

The last thing we talked about was when to meet to do our activities, and which days we would do them. Again, this was a little difficult due to schedule conflicts but we eventually figured it out. We're going to go dog walking, picnicking, Zumba-ing, and hot-tubing. Our first activity will be tomorrow to go dog-walking in the quad! I'm especially excited to go Zumba-ing on Saturday though, and see the guys whip out some latino style dance moves. :)

Introduc-ING The A-Team! (Our Introductory Meeting)

The A-Team

From Left to Right: Bryan Sowers, Courtney Blackwell, 

Matt Diperna, Katelynn Sundheim, & Lauren Fabrize.

On Wednesday, September 12th, 2012 the members of The A-Team met at Starbucks in Carrier Library to have a meal (or in this case coffee) together. We talked about where we are from, Lauren is from North Carolina, Bryan is from Virginia, Katelynn and Courtney are from Pennsylvania, and Matt is from New York. We brainstormed some ideas for what we will be do-ING, we came up with around 20 ideas that are all pretty fun and interesting. We talked about what we are involved in here at JMU, Courtney is in the sorority Delta Delta Delta, Bryan wants to join a fraternity, Matt wants to play Intramural Basketball, Katelynn wants to Play Club Softball, and Lauren is playing Intramural Volleyball and is in the Sign Language Club. We realized we have very opposite and busy schedules but are excited to work together on our projects. We also set the date for our Business Meeting. We will meet again here at Starbucks in Carrier Library on Monday, September 17th, 2012.