Juniors learn patience and teamwork at 2014 retreat

Juniors+Alison+Foley+and+Olivia+Brink.+The+TreeUmph%21+courses+test+your+strength%2C+agility%2C+and+nerves.

Photo Credit: Jourdan Collins

Juniors Alison Foley and Olivia Brink. The TreeUmph! courses test your strength, agility, and nerves.

Every year, the junior class takes a retreat day to the TreeUmph! Adeventure Course grounds and put their trust to the test. Throughout the day, the girls climb trees, ropes, and walk across logs up to 60 feet high. The true test of trust is not in themselves or their physical capability of completing the course, but rather their fellow AHN sisters.

There were many different courses TreeUmph! had to offer. Fortunately, the AHN juniors got to experience many of them. One of the courses consisted of a log stuck between two trees high up in the air. To complete this course, the girls first had to climb up the tree to get to the top platform in order to walk across the log. Next, they had to walk across the log from one tree to the other.

Keep in mind that the log was only about six inches wide, so the fear of slipping was high.

Lastly, once the climber made it across, she had to walk back in to the middle of the log and slowly lean back and fall off the log, leaving their safety in the hands of her AHN sisters.

Mica Wiley shares about her favorite course during the retreat, “My favorite course was the friendship ladder because unlike most of the other courses, you actually had to work together to get to the top of the ladder. The experience defintely brings you closer together because you are all working toward the same goal. It makes you appreciate the help of the girls with you.”

She shares one of the life lessons learned from this retreat.

“The biggest lesson I learned is probably that it takes patience to motivate someone else.”