What did you learn about your fellow officers from the Group Y-PAL exercise? What did you learn about yourself from the exercise? How did you guys bond?
Do you share any of the same goals? Is there anything unique that connects all of you?
My Y-Pals were Derrick W and Zoe H. Derrick is in my school delegation, so I got to know him quite well over the past year (or so I thought!). I’d never met Zoe before, so it was really great to get to meet one of the new incoming officers this year! What I find really interesting and valuable about this exercise is that the type of questions we end up asking each other are not what you’d generally ask someone you just met or are trying to get to know. Given that we were truly trying to look for commonalities and learn about who makes each of us unique, we got to know each other in a more personal way, sharing what makes each of us who we are. It wasn’t a simple “hi, what school are you from” but rather “what’s your biggest pet peeve” and “what’s the longest flight you’ve been on”, and I definitely felt that inquiring about each other in this way gave us a unique and interesting perspective on our respective personalities, experiences, likes, dislikes, and lives. This was especially reflected in the fact that I’ve known Derrick for a good amount of years and I got to actually interact with him this past year, but I never would have known or thought to ask him such questions and get to know what makes him. Similarly, if I met Zoe for the first time in another setting, it would have taken me a lot longer than 2 hours to get a good understanding of who she is, what she likes, and what things are important to her. I learned a lot of really cool things about my Y-pal! Zoe likes Halloween more than Christmas, does theater, does marching band, had a Despicable Me halloween costume last year, and can cartwheel like I can. Derrick has been to Taiwan, can’t stand slow walkers like I can’t, thinks packing is fun, and his favorite subject is lunch (haha). I think what led to the three of us bonding the most was finding what we have in common. Some unique things that connect us all are how we all love Italian food, are addicteddd to TikTok, are in band, love sushi, and are all city people. I really loved getting to know and bond with my Ypals, and I truly can’t wait to get closer over the course of the year!!!