This summer, we hosted our summer retreat at McGill Campground. The retreat served as a great way for our members and previous alumni to unwind and bond. The first day, everyone set up camp and introduced themselves. The night started with a few games and ended with some stargazing. The next day consisted of an early morning hike. At the end of our hike, we bonded by playing a silly “dare” game. During the game, members and alumni ended up climbing trees, walking barefoot in the forest, and much more. Back at camp we played a game of Pictionary and Twister with shaving cream. The Twister game ended up as a game of tag with everyone trying to throw shaving cream at each other. After enjoying some hotdogs, everyone got together to play an activity called “Making a City”. The group was split into two teams with the Co-Presidents as team captains. Each team was to make a shelter, weapons for hunting, and a filtration system to make clean water. Everything was to be made by only using the nature around them. After testing the effectiveness of each shelter, weapons and water filtration systems, Abraham’s team won. As night fell, a game of capture the flag emerged. Each shelter was used as a base. Hernan’s team won. The last activity played was a game of “Zombies”. Two people were chosen to be zombies while the rest of the “humans” wore glow sticks. The zombies ambushed each person, removing their glow sticks to make them into zombies. To top the night, everyone huddled next to the campfire until there was no more firewood. The next morning everyone packed up and headed to a Mexican restaurant at the base of the mountain. After a great retreat we were finally going home to shower!
This retreat served as a great way to introduce new officers and members to MAES. It was a great bonding experience that has motivated everyone to work hard and make the best of the school year to come. We hope to see even more members at our winter retreat!