On April 3 through 8 I had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC. Although, yes, I did get to see the National Mall and the US Capital building, and even visited the offices of our state representative (to request some legislation that will be helpful to exchange students and their host families), for the most part this was a really intensive workshop, that was both energizing and exhausting.
One workshop was particularly enlightening. On the walls there were several pictures of different animals---gazelle, eagle, rabbit, elephant, ant, dolphin, turtle, and tiger. We were asked to stand by the animal that we felt most represented our character. Think about it. Once there (I was in the dolphin group, obviously), we brainstormed about what it was about that animal that we identified with. Speed, flight, aggressiveness, watchfulness, thoughtfulness, strength, curiosity, playfulness, carefulness, intelligence, teamwork, awareness, friendliness, commumicativeness, clear-sightedness, individualism, helpfulness, and others were chosen for various animals (you decide and/or add your own). That was the fun part. After all that, it got interesting. We were then asked to move to the animal that best represented us when in a situation where we had to request something--big or little. To my chagrin, I found myself moving from dolphin to rabbit. Now, people said positive things about rabbits, you know, thoughtful, watchful, fast, contemplative. But, let's face it, rabbits are timid, and they are FOOD. Finding myself in that (small) group definitely gave me food for thought. Next we were asked to go to the animal that best represented us when we were under stress. Visualizing myself as backed into a corner, I found myself moving over to the tiger. Better than rabbit I guess; watchful, strong, blends in, aggressive; but just the same, I don't really like the predator conotations. Now what to do with all this enlightenment!
