What Experiential Learning Taught Me

Trust.

That is the primary lesson I learned through Experiential learning this year. As a part of that we hiked at Silver Creek Falls, being asked to do some unexpected things in order to build trust and learn to communicate as a team. We had to each place our feet in a rope that had loops in it, while hiking on some rocky terrain, we were forced to walk together, to communicate and trust each other as we worked hard to not fall.

This was just the beginning of learning to lean on one another as a team, and take that into our job as R.A.'s this year. Knowing that we had a support system behind us that loved us and was cheering us on allowed the hard parts of the job to feel a little easier, and the victorious and rewarding parts of the job to be that much sweeter.

 It was a risk, just like walking with that rope around our ankles-- we feared we might trip and sometimes we couldn't see very far in the distance, so we also had to trust our leader to get us safely to where we needed to be. It was out of everyone else's hands. I learned that these people called 'my team' were some of my biggest supporters and they were trustworthy.

We also had to learn to trust the ultimate leader, our Heavenly Father. It is not always easy. There are difficult conversations, residents that are sometimes disconnected and emotional time and energy when you're feeling empty is often required. It was in those moments that we had to realize and remember the goodness and trustworthiness of our Father. We had to place it in His hands, believing that He knew where we were going, even when we couldn't see it.

Trust is a difficult lesson, but a crucial one to the life of the believer. Experiential Learning showed me the importance of trust at the deepest level.