PSE 2nd Year Team Building Event

“The second we paired up and began activities, the room became lively.  We were all glad to be spending time together.  That is what I will take away and remember from this event.”  – Bryanna Lawry, second year student in PSE and CHE

One of the flagship events in the Paper Science & Engineering student experience is the annual first year retreat. On the retreat, new students get the opportunity to get to know each other, learn professional and teamwork skills, and tour a full-size paper mill from one of the program’s industrial partners. However, for our incoming first year students in 2020, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic prevented the flagship retreat from being held. For the PSE faculty and staff this was not acceptable, and while they could not put on another first year retreat for the now second year class, they could and did hold a special event to add to their experiences.

One of the most memorable and important parts of the annual retreat are various team-building activities that help the new cohort to bond together. On Sunday, January 30th, the now second year cohort had the opportunity to participate in similar team-building activities through the WellRec program on campus to what they would have had on the retreat. A dozen students gathered for a few hours to enjoy team building activities, rock climbing, and lunch sponsored by the department.

Bryanna Lawry is one of the students who attended, and when asked if the event was helpful in helping her cohort come together as a class, she explained,

“I want to begin this answer with some praise for my peers. In the midst of one of the biggest disappointments that we were faced with (not beginning college in an even semi-normal way), we were somehow able to create incredible relationships with one another. The program hosted a lot of Zoom calls for us throughout the summer before we moved in, and from there, we created a group chat. We still send messages in that chat daily. However, our friendships have been hard to develop in person though strong through screens. We have almost created a false sense of how close we are, because we have been forced to hide behind screens when interacting for so long. This event was incredibly helpful in giving us time together face to face. And it was especially helpful because this was facetime that was not stressful- it was not a cram study session for a test, which is really the only facilitated time we have been able to spend together. It was really nice to further develop the friendships in person we so steadily keep up with online.”

She also went on to say, “This event really brought to light how people from all over can come together with just one similarity- such as a college major- and have a wonderful time together. Each of us present at the event grew up in different places, with different families and therefore we all have differing backgrounds and different personalities. However, we spent 3 hours together and not for a minute was there an awkward moment. No matter the circumstances, no matter what hardships we went through as a cohort, no matter what we missed out on, we were still able to create relationships that we continue to build. That, I believe, is very special. Especially when you look at all we went through due to our entrance into freshman year of college amidst a global pandemic.”

Bryanna added that after having so many events taken away from them by the pandemic, including high school graduation, prom, and their own freshman retreat, her class was becoming all too familiar with being disappointed by losing out on common experiences. As a result, this event was amazing getting to see how the PSE program cares about their students so much. She also reiterated how grateful she and her classmates are to the department and upperclassman volunteers who put this event on.

One of the upperclassmen who volunteered to help with the event is Aitana Blevins, a 5th year student in the PSE program. She came up away from the event having made new friends with many of the second year students. She is also grateful to have opportunities to give back to a program that “values student experiences enough to plan special team building events like this.” Aitana added that she is incredibly proud to be a part of the Paper Science & Engineering program and looks forward to seeing how the second year students apply some uncovered hidden talents in the classroom in the future.