Lead Others

Opportunities for leadership occur on a daily basis in the ODA program. Case analysis, group work and planning, to name a few, combined with big events such as the sea kayak expedition in Georgian Bay, the river rafting expedition in Quebec, the canoeing trip on the Madawaska River were all occasions to use and show leadership skills. During my summer work term in Algonquin Park as a canoe tripper I led every day.

1. In the classroom I broke-down a task and designed a detailed lesson plan to teach it. This demonstrates my ability to plan a lesson for skills based instruction that integrates safety and risk communication.

2. The kayak leadership experience coincided with my lead day and a random, mock, on-water first-aid scenario in which a paddler flipped their kayak and could not right it. The patient became combative and flipped two kayaks that came to assist. I successfully handled the incident by assigning responsibility to an incident commander for first aid and patient management, directed a double kayak, which I knew was the most stable, to right them, then after righting the patient they were towed to shore where first aid was administered. With delegation and control of the scene the incident did not escalate.

3. During raft ex., in first year, I was not as confident as I am now and I made choices I would not make now. Then, I could not read the water as well as I can today and in retrospect my leadership choices put others and myself in a sub-par position. While then I was content to watch and not lead, I am much more comfortable to step up now and take charge. Over time my decision making and judgement calls have improved thereby improving my group management skills.