Adventure Learning Center

Monday , May 26, 2008
Urbandale, Iowa

From over 500 individuals who applied for a three month internship at Helena Chemical, 20 were chosen to come to Des Moines. Though they had only come together for the first time late on Sunday, May 18th, they started to grow and begin to know each other in a short amount of time. The respect for one another and the teamwork portrayed grew since the start of the afternoon at Adventure Learning Center located in Urbandale, Iowa.

"We came into this with hope to gain communication skills and work together as a whole," stated Bill Smith, Business Development Specialist. "I wanted them to tap into their resources and get the message to them that communication and working together is a large key within the business field."

The task may have seemed easy for some but with each step it became more difficult to manage alone. Each activity was related to what may happen while working at Helena Chemical or any business. Throughout the afternoon, guiding principals were written down in order for them to build off and learn from their experience. The positive communication and determination really helped in the progress.

"The positive attitude shown today is going to have a great impact on what will happen in the next couple of months. Having that positive attitude can have a huge effect with any position," stated Andrew Walker of S. Dakota State University.

Communication and brainstorming became the key factor during the activities to help complete it. "There was a powerful message discovered today. The communication in and out of the office will be important. Those are connections that we want to have," stated Smith. "There was an explosion of energy and communication among these individuals which hadn't been seen before."

The values and goals of business were translated in all aspects of the activities that were held. Realizing you have to "swing over" the obstacles in order to get where you want to go and asking for help to reach your destination. The students realized the big picture needed to be worked out step by step in order to accomplish each task with a strong focus and determined.

At the end of the day, the interns from Helena Chemical took home the ideas of: communication with others and staff as the need arises, collaborating as a team, support and using the time you have to the best extent.

"Today I thought for knowing each other only a short time, we really meshed together. We worked really hard to accomplish our goals and worked as if we had known each other longer," said Tyler Underwood, Iowa State University.

Finding that balance on different ideas and solving the problems that had interfered with their routine became a struggle. With teamwork, each individual gained experience, to get where they wanted to be. Now with the connections that they have established they know they are all in this together.