Ignite! Recap

I've mentioned the Institute for Cultural Communicators here before, specifically in regard to the lessons I learned about influence from their Communicators For Christ conferences. (Find my article here.) If you haven't heard of this organization, you can check it out at its website, here.

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend ICC's Winter Retreat, Ignite! It's the first event of the year, "igniting" the attendees' excitement for another year with this organization. It's a several-day-long retreat held in the beautiful mountains of Tennessee. And it's a national event! People came from all over the country. I was so excited to go to Ignite, and today I want to tell you about my experience. 

I had the privilege of attending as a Recommended Staff Assistant, or RSA, which meant that along with many other teenagers, I helped out with meals, setup for tournament and events, and participated in special courses. This year, I was on a team of, I think, 56 RSAs, which was pretty exciting. The really fun part was that even though there were so many of us, we all got to know each other pretty well in the space of 5-6 days. 

Another fun part of being an RSA was leading cabin devotions. There were about 8 people in each cabin, 2-3 of whom were RSAs. The two RSA girls in my cabin and I took turns with this, and had a blast! Our whole cabin really connected and we learned a lot about each other and encouraged each other so much. Those times of talking and sharing are some of my highlights from this event. :)

Sunrise through the fog one morning! When I went to Ignite last year, I wasn't up as early. So it was quite interesting seeing all the fog in the early morning.

The overall theme of Ignite 2017 was "Go Together," based on a proverb. "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." I've been learning this more and more since I joined the Institute for Cultural Communicators. You see, I've always liked doing things on my own, because I could get them done more quickly. But speed isn't everything! Here's another phrase we recited frequently at this event. "We go together because we are better together. We are better together because we go together." 

Oh, and there was Tournament Day! One of the really exciting aspects of the Institute for Cultural Communicators is the speech competition. However, the competition is not nearly as, well, competitive. There are no money prizes, for one thing, although there are trophies and medals. For another, the focus is on practice and growing as a speaker. What's more, the speakers are also evaluated on how they behave when they're not speaking on the platform. Tournament Day at Ignite is really exciting, but if you're competitive or going for a special award, that's when you get nervous. I... fulfill both of those things. When I had a spare moment or two, you could find me reciting my speeches in a quiet place near a grove of fir trees. 

Or you could find me taking photos of the fir trees. Same difference, right?

And when a ladybug flies by and decides to land on your jeans, there's nothing a photographer can do but whip out the camera to capture it.

No matter how you think you did in tournament, everyone's really encouraging. The point is to grow, and while the awards are very nice to receive, that's not the most important thing. Plus, watching amazing friends receive awards is sometimes better than getting one yourself. (There's also something very fun in sitting with a couple of friends and waiting nervously to see whose names are called. Go together. ;))

In addition to tournament and general RSA fun, there were Special Events! One was the Mountain Western Party, where everyone at the retreat dressed up like cowboys, ate western-style food, took western photos, played western activities, and generally had a lot of western fun. 

My Western outfit!

Although... we brought in a large hay bale to decorate the building where we ate. The problem with hay bales? Hay falls out of the bales. So staff members and the RSAs had quite a time picking up all the tiny bits of hay off the floor -- by hand, because the brooms didn't work too well on the carpet! Still, it was so much fun, just because there were several of us working and we laughed and talked about all sorts of crazy things. A bonding experience. 

Then there was the Ladies' Luncheon, and the Men's Muncheon! I don't know what happened in the latter event, but the Ladies' Luncheon was a lot of fun. It was Doctor Seuss themed, so everyone dressed up in cheerful, fantastic costumes and had a party with fun decorations. I had fun doing set-up for it. :)

There was the Student Leader Reception, too! All attendees who were Student Leaders in their local public speaking chapters were invited to come to the Student Leader Reception, hosted by ICC's National Student Leader Council. (Thanks, guys! It was amazing! :)) We played activities and got to talk together and relax. We ate waffles -- after decorating them with whipped cream, chocolate chips, sprinkles, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, and things like that. Here's my waffle: 

Yum!!

Anything I didn't like? Hmmm... not really... Sure, I was on meal duty, which involved wiping down tables, sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping. But when you're doing that with a team of friends, it suddenly becomes a lot less tedious. So I don't really have any regrets, unless it's that I didn't take more pictures, possibly.

Overall, I had so much fun attending the Ignite retreat! If you're interested in learning more about this event, you can click here. I got to meet so many people and build so many encouraging relationships. If you're part of the Institute for Cultural Communicators, I think you'd have a fantastic time! And if you're not, I still think you'd have a fantastic time! You don't have to be part of the organization to attend. 

"Go Together," was the theme. I think that we accomplished that at Ignite 2017. We went together, we learned together, and we grew together.