Outward Bound Oman, GUtech conduct joint sports course
MUSCAT: A four-day trip to the interior of Oman with Outward Bound Oman in cooperation with the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) marked the final activity of the ‘ Leadership in Sports’ course with various sessions.
Eighteen GUtech students learnt during the workshop about leadership roles, responsibilities, intercultural communication, emotional intelligence, social media attire and conflict management.
About 11 students joined the off campus experiential trip with Outward Bound Oman.
“The Outward Bound course was one of the best experiences I have ever had. From the first day I saw how all of my student mates were excited for the trip. Since then we have been connected and working as a team together through all activities,” said Loay al Mandhari, a logistics student and a member of the GUtech basketball team.
The students agreed that Outward Bound facilitators used just the right amount of facilitation to bring out the most in each individual; thus guaranteeing the highest learning effect. This first workshop resumed a successful completion of the ‘Leadership in Sports’ course conducted by Maia Kuhnen (MSc Psychology), GUtech Sports Office.
In addition, the students were supervised by two Outward Bound Oman facilitators, who communicated clear expectations regarding timeliness, meeting point, and the seriousness of the role filling.
One day the group met with Abdulaziz al Harthy, lawyer of Denton, the main sponsors of the tour, who himself was fortunate to participate in an Outward Bound Trip six years ago.
Al Harthy confirmed that the experience has impacted his life in many ways, not immediately visible at the time of the trip but it came more and more to his consciousness throughout the years following this experience. The GUtech student athletes were eager listening to his career path, advices and thoughts about the current job perspectives in Oman or the best place for employment.
On the first day the GUtech students and their supervisors travelled by 4WD to the Jabal Al Akhdhar mountains passing Omani blue berry trees, 1000 year-old juniper trees and many other plants only found on Jabal Al Akhdhar.
During the first day the students had sessions on material organisation for camping in an ecological responsible way, safety, risk procedures, the practical experience of reaching a goal through respecting the different components of communication, being an effective team and self-organising the group that was divided into three teams to prepare, cook and clean dinner were other topics on the agenda.
The next day, the camp awoke early morning and the motto of the following hiking days was to find oneself within a role and responsibility important for the successful completion of the hike. The student athletes were instructed to find their path based on GPS coordinates and the given devices. They had to do the whole route planning on their own beforehand, discussing points from the day before to finish the first big challenge successfully, and making each other familiar with the randomly assigned role. On the last day a certificate ceremony concluded this unique outdoor experience for GUtech students.