Teamwork: True Value

Teamwork on display.  Recently, I attended laser tag with the guys from Ryan 2 North and the girls from Ryan 3 North.  In laser tag, everyone uses guns that fire light to hit the light receptor targets on opposing players.  The three themes of Foundations can be illustrated through my experience.

 

On November 16, my Resident Assistant, Gavin, organized a laser tag trip to Zero Gravity, on Wolf Road.  His friend, who works at Zero Gravity, reserved the whole arena for our group of forty people.  The price for the whole event was only five dollars, and it was worth it.  Everyone that attended was split up into two teams (Red Team and Blue Team).  Each person put on their team vest and grabbed their laser gun.  Then, we ran out into the arena in an attempt to beat the opposing team by killing more people.

 

Laser tag at Zero Gravity relates to the theme of the person because the event is made up of people.  The people are split into teams, and must work together in order to come out victorious.  The attendees of the event were a very diverse bunch, including both guys and girls, along with many different races and ethnicities.  Each individual member of the team has one responsibility: Remain alive while killing the opposing team members.  The laser tag arena is very big and has many obstacles and objects to hide in and behind.  The best obstacle is a massive bridge starting on one side of the arena and stretching to the other side, containing many entrances along the way.  In essence, the first team to storm the bridge and stay there is assured the victory because the bridge overlooks the whole arena, leaving a very small number of hiding spots.  This experience gave all of its participants the chance to collaborate for chance of a win.

 

Teamwork

 

Each team in the arena can be seen as its own society because of the fact the each member of the team must work together toward the common goal of victory.  Laser tag forces the interaction among teammates because the arena is very dark and people tend to be scattered all over the place within a few minutes.  Team members get separated from each other, and must use verbal communication or signals to alert other teammates of their geographical position in the arena.  At one point, I got separated from my team, and was hiding in a bunker.  I looked out over the top of the foliage and yelled the position of the enemy to my teammates.  At that point, one of my teammates shot the enemy forces closest to my position and ran over to help my cover my area of vision with added fire-power.  This experience creates a stronger bond between the members of each team.

 

The laser tag trip relates to nature in two ways: laser tag creates a naturally competitive environment, and the physical laser tag environment, which is meant to mimic that of actual nature, like mountains, natural bridges, trees, and foliage.  The competitive environment commences the minute that people are divided into teams.  Then, the environment becomes even more competitive when victory and bragging rights are at stake.  The physical environment of the laser tag arena is a good attempt at mimicking nature.  The multitude of obstacles in the arena provide for cover as in nature.  The various types of terrain also provide cover.

 

In attending this event, I learned the value of teamwork and how it can be utilized in the real world.  If every person on the team works together, the team as a whole can achieve their goal.

 

The three themes of Foundations are the person, the society, and nature.  Teamwork among the groups is the only way to come out victorious.  Laser Tag is a good team-building activity that creates many opportunities to interact with other people and further your communications skills.  Overall, my experience was a great one.  My team ended up winning every game.

 

On a side note, unrelated to the story, but very much related to the value of teamwork, I was helped out with a car tow recently.  My tire came flying off as I was driving down the road and I went right into a ditch, so I called the guys at albanytow.com to come to my aid.  After I explained the situation on the phone, they sent over 3 people to help me out.  Not 1…3!  The 3 guy worked together as a team to get my car out of the ditch and get my girlfriend and I safely home.  They probably lost money helping me because they brought so many people to my assistance, but I am very grateful.  They acted a team, and although they’ll probably never see it, this is my way of thanking them.

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