It Takes a Village

So entering our organization this week we were lucky to have such luck in in finding an organization that welcomed us with open arms which was already a reflection of what their mission statement was and how they do things there. Immediately so many facts were thrown at us from every angle and not only from answering questions, but from mere observations and numerous interactions. We also got an invitation back within the first few minutes. From all of the materials that we had collected online it was great to see what in essence felt like the website come to life. Stories and rituals were being told left and right and questions were answered even before we needed to ask them. It was also very relaxed where the "interview" became a really interesting and fun conversation. For me I also began to see how this organization and what it stands for bears a lot of similarity to what my current organization does and tries to do for our student athletes. The message of the organization is pretty clear and everyone in the organization from what we saw that one day seems to convey it. We are excited to go back and dig a little deeper and ask more critical question that can get to the heart of exactly how the organization works. I am interested more in the communication factor. We were also given a clue that food was very important in the organization we are visiting and that was a surprise. So it was something we may not have expected, but now that leads us down a trail as to why food is so important and then to see what they do and how they handle food to communicate its importance. So with all the questions that we asked we know that there are so many more that have emerged. Also just from a student standpoint it was also interesting to debrief after and see what stood out to me and get all that I remembered from the conversations and observations out. I have not discussed what I remembered with my partner yet, but it will be even more interesting to see what she remembers and what matches up and what either of us saw differently.