Our First Week

What exactly is a scavenger hunt? Dictionary.com defines it as, "a game in which individuals or teams are sent out to accumulate, without purchasing, a series of common, outlandish, or humorous objects, the winner being the person or team returning first with all the items." Yea, I think we have a slightly different take. For two days, four teams scoured the city for 50 odd items on a list. Although the current members on our team were in different groups for the hunt, our experiences were similar. We all visited the same places, met the same people, and walked the same distances. By 5pm on July 3rd, we were all beat.

As we look back on our experiences that week, we realize how important those events were and how they will impact us throughout the next couple of weeks. That scavenger hunt was our first lesson on teamwork. Whether or not you liked your team, you had to work with them to achieve the goal of winning. The arduous task of winning took a lot of effort, skill, and strategy. It was a lot of work but in the end, most of the teams got through it. The members of Team Ambush had many things to say.

Eric wrote on his very first blog, "Yesterday was my second day here @ HarlemLIVE, We were assigned a task "scavenger hunt" as Rich called it. It was intense; we were divided into 4 groups. Once they assigned our groups, they were out to work. Some of us had to stay here to do computer work for the scavenger hunt; I was one of them. Staying here with one of my group member, Courtney, was cool. We got our work done and we helped the others in the city get to the places with the right directions. I am really enjoying it here at HarlemLIVE. The environment is awesome!!!" That kind of enthusiasm is the essence of the scavenger hunt and what it takes to win,

Christian had similar sentiments about part one of the scavenger hunt as he wrote, "What we did yesterday was difficult and at the same time fun and painful because we went on a scavenger hunting all the way from uptown to downtown. One of our tasks was to find a pastry store and that was a lot of walking. Tomorrow we are going to scavenger hunt again because we did not have a chance to finish it today so the battle is still on. Team 4 is gonna WIN!!!" His confidence in his team allowed him enabled him to forget about the pain of walking.

Fatima, who participated in only part two's hunt, seemed to suffer more pain as she wrote, " I have a headache..a very very bad headache. A headache that is making it impossible for me to even think. Why do I have a headache you ask? Well when you spend, oh say, six hours running around the city finding menu's and business cards not to mention waterfalls that are barely visible from the Brooklyn Bridge, you'd have a headache as well. So yea, that's how my day went. I'm oh so tired. Tired like i could totally fall asleep standing. With my eyes open. SLEEPING while STANDING with MY EYES OPEN!!!! But all in all, despite being completely worn out and the migraine (yes my headache has expanded into a migraine), I had fun. Mike and Stephen and their tireless "live nude men" antics made this whole process more bearable. Columbia University is really nice with all the pretty buildings and nice smelling green grass. Yea...that was definitely one of the high points of my day. And I really like TekServe and their ten cent vintage Coke bottles and all the old Apple stuff. The boat basin was cool...you know like walking along the river even though we weren't allowed to go onto the docks. I was so psyched to go on this scavenger hunt yesterday but I have come to the sad conclusion that I am not, I repeat, NOT a scavenger. I mean I love the city and all but, no. Not for me. But I did enjoy myself and that's important, you know having fun. I know that sounds like a cliche but it's true; at least to me anyway." Despite her aches, she and her team preserved and enjoyed the experience.

Nana had thoughts about the experience and his team as well as he wrote, "Today I liked it a lot. It was cool and okay. This scavenger hunt is very stressful. I really don't like it at all. But I am sure that my team won we put a lot into this and I hope that it paid off because it really got on my nerves. I did so much today and I don't know what else to do I went downtown twice and walk, walk, and walk; all this walking is making me die. When I win I'll be so happy. HOLLA!" He may have not enjoyed it as much, but he had confidence in his team and that is important.

Naiquan, who did not participate in the scavenger hunt at all, experienced a different experience on his own. He wrote, " Well my days are still filled up...it was cool walking into the HarlemLIVE office and seeing so many people working and being busy. It's relieving to see more people than myself in the office. Life is cool @ HarlemLIVE." He later commented on his team by saying, "So today was the first official team day. All the teams met up and I just want to say that teammates and I are taking the crown, the prizes, or whatever there is to win this summer. LOL. Y'all other teams better watch out....get on your story grind up... Really though I am just playing. Excited to really connect and get to know my teammates, create good art, and...Have fun!"

Eric, later that week, wrote, "So far, i like it here at HarlemLIVE. In my eyes it looks like I'm going to learn a lot and learn new things. Today we talked about the challenges that we will have to face; I'm really looking forward to it. Last summer I went to Cornell University for a business plan competition and my team lost 2nd place. I was devastated…lol. So with this, I want to WIN first PLACE. And I will keep my head up and as well help my other team members become # 1. I don't want to get 2nd place again. I am also looking forward to the classes like photography or video and as well as journalism. As for the staff so far, they are pretty cool."

The experiences in the last week are essential in to Team Ambush's success because we learned about teamwork and winning. The scavenger hunt was sort of a preview of the challenges we will face this summer and how to persevere. We are a good, strong team, and losing is not an option. With that said, let the games begin!!!