At Challenge Discovery, we work with a variety of groups, from middle school students, to high school sports teams, to church youth groups. In addition, we oftentimes work with leadership programs or leadership teams in the community, hoping to give the students an opportunity to be a leader in a new and different setting. Last summer, we worked with the Hanover County Emerging Leaders program, which is a group of high school seniors from all four high schools in Hanover County. Challenge Discovery’s TeamOdyssey program is the perfect way to kick off their year of leadership development together. Take a look at a University of Richmond news article here to learn more about the group and what their year looks like.

Growing up, I was surrounded by my dad’s voice echoing through the house, promoting Challenge Discovery as an “experience of a lifetime” and “the best team building in Richmond, VA.” There was always talk about not only improving the course itself and advertising, but the majority of it was brainstorming about how to achieve the same goal multiple ways. These concepts of working together, team building, and Challenge by Choice has been stuck in my head since I can remember. However, as much as I had heard about Challenge Discovery and climbed through the courses, I was never able to grasp the concept of what we actually do, until my internship this summer.

Some may think, “Oh it’s just an internship for your dad, isn’t that easy?” To be honest, it’s more work than I thought. Having the opportunity to be on the other side of the barrier, and actually doing the background work for this company, is helping me realize the importance of what we do at Challenge Discovery. When someone asks me, “Why should I bring my class to Challenge Discovery for a school field trip?” I actually have an answer for them. Now, I am able to see the impact our programs have on the participants, rather than looking up at the course in a dress and sandals, holding my dad’s hand, thinking to myself, “What a wonderful playground!” As middle schoolers, high schoolers, college students, scouts troops, and church groups go through one of our programs, the participants are often times pushed out of their comfort zone. It’s just enough for them to get off of their heels and try something new or take a risk they never would have imagined taking earlier that day. They look back at the day and realize they can do things they never thought they were able to do.

Being able to work together, as a company, friends, family, or any other group of people is a skill that is necessary for success. We always think of “teamwork” as an important value, but we tend to forget the importance of it when we are sitting at the office or in class all day. Sometimes it’s the energy boost of a day out at the ropes course in Richmond that will help you connect to the people in the room four chairs to the left of you. Having the opportunity to intern at Challenge Discovery is helping me realize this and want to encourage others to take time out of your day to work with people you may have never met before, or that person you’ve seen all year, but are too shy to talk too. Participating in one of Challenge Discovery’s team building programs can help you build relationships that you never would have expected and gives you a whole new perspective on the phrase team building itself.

Emily Huber, intern & facilitator