On the last Saturday of April of this year, the Beta chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon, an economics honor society, took a group trip to Venture Out. This is a team-building high ropes course affiliated with the University of Missouri, where organizations can increase group cohesiveness. Being the 30th day of April, the weather was unpredictable, but it ended up being an optimum day to be outside and soak up the sun. At Venture Out, there are a variety of activities available to engage the body and mind, and each member of the group participated in each.

Upon arrival, the executive members of ODE initiated new members, and graduating members were presented with stoles to don at graduation. After dispensing with the formalities, all members enjoyed a name-learning game in order to improve communication for the later activities. Some of these activities taking place after the learning of names included being high off the ground, and tested the comfort zones of many members. Each group found that there was more to be gleaned from the day than a bit of sun.

During the high-altitude activities, members were given the choice to use each other to lean on, or the ropes connecting them to the safety wires above. If a member were only interested in getting through the course with maximum efficiency, they would be best of holding onto the white ropes while going from one obstacle to the next. This, however, was not the intent of the course. Participants are encouraged to work as a team, pretending the white ropes aren’t even there.

The potential applications to our daily lives are limitless. Metaphorically, we all have white ropes that make it feel like we’re playing the game of life on an easier mode. For some people, it’s using the internet to find answers for homework instead of working through the problem independently. For others, it’s choosing the easy way out instead of pushing ourselves to expand our comfort zone. Ultimately, the Venture Out course provides students with a necessary outlet to exercise their bodies and minds, with the hope of attaining greater feats that would otherwise have been impossible.